CAPTAIN  JOSEPH  WADDINGTON  GRAVES,  B.  D. 


The  Renaissance 
of  Korea 


By 

JOSEPH  WADDINGTON  GRAVES,  B.  D. 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


OCT  2 5 2007 


theological  seminary 


Copyrighted  by 
PHILIP  JAISOHN  & CO. 
1537  Chestnut  Street 
Philadelphia 
1920 


CONTENTS 


FRONTISPIECE  Page 

FOREWORD 5 

PREAMBLE 7 

BIRTH  OF  A NATION 8 

KOREA  LIGHTENS  JAPAN’S  DARKNESS  10 

THE  SWINGING  PENDULUM 12 

A GOLDEN  AGE 14 

HIDEYOSHI 16 

THE  HERMIT  NATION 18 

TAI  WON  KUN 20 

EXIT  CHINA 22 

A LOST  CHANCE >24 

EXIT  RUSSIA 26 

AN  APPEAL  THAT  FAILED 28 

THE  HEART  OF  HIDEYOSHI  33 

THE  ARGUMENT  OF  FORMOSA 35 

ASSIMILATION 37 

SOWING  THE  WIND 42 

THE  NATION’S  WEALTH 44 

THE  APPARENT  AND  THE  REAL 47 

CHRISTIANITY 48 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  MOVEMENT 50 

CAIN’S  QUESTION 55 

THE  ROD  59 

THE  NEW  KOREA 61 

BUSHIDO 63 

THE  WHITE  BUDDHA 66 

APPENDIX 68 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

MAP  OF  KOREA 
BIRDSEYE  VIEW  OF  SEOUL 
MAIN  STREET  IN  SEOUL 
POSTOFFICE  AND  BANK  IN  SEOUL 
CENTRAL  PARK  IN  SEOUL 
CITY  GATE  OF  SEOUL 


FOREWORD 

BY  HARLAN  P.  BEACH,  D.  D„  F.  R.  G.  S. 

This  is  not  the  time  when  sentimental  friends  of 
liberty  and  weeping  advocates  of  oppressed  nations 
are  likely  to  be  heard.  The  world  is  too  full  of  woe  to 
listen  to  any  tale  of  far-away  wrongs,  when  the  home 
situation  is  scarcely  tolerable.  To  be  heard  at  all 
above  the  wail  of  humanity,  a special  cause  must  have 
as  its  spokesman  one  who  knows  whereof  he  testifies, 
who  can  present  the  case  calmly,  justly,  forcefully  and 
without  rancour.  He  ought,  also,  to  be  a person 
whose  horizon  is  wider  than  the  Korean’s,  or  even  that 
of  the  Far  East,  a man  with  Weltanschauung  and  a 
mind  that  comprehends  the  meaning  of  world  move- 
ments as  a great  whole. 

Such  a person  is  the  author.  A British  subject, 
and  so  by  nationality  one  of  Japan’s  allies,  he  has 
seen  with  his  own  eyes  in  Japan  and  Korea  what  that 
Ally  is  doing,  and  he  knows  what  the  underlying 
objectives  are.  He  also  knows  from  personal  and 
firsthand  sources  what  actually  occurred  in  Korea  last 
year.  History  has  supplied  him  with  the  foundation 
in  early  and  later  centuries  upon  which  modern  Koreg 
has  been  built.  When  the  present  writer  recalls  the 
many  hundreds  of  pages  of  manuscript  personally 
examined,  detailing  the  true  story  of  the  fateful  year 
of  1919,  not  to  speak  of  what  he  has  read  of  the 
earlier  outbreak  of  1911,  he  marvels  at  the  temperate 
tone  of  the  chapters  relating  to  events  of  last  year. 
The  Christian  spirit  of  Captain  Graves  and  his  judicial 
mind  have  made  him  give  to  the  public  a calm,  dis- 
passionate statement  of  the  entire  case  in  its  historical 
setting  and  its  tragical  outcome. 

A glance  at  the  table  of  contents  will  prepare  the 
reader  for  a vivid  picture  or  series  of  views,  of  these 

5 


stirring  events;  and,  after  all,  style  is  needed  as  well 
as  fact  to  make  history  cling  to  the  memory  and  affect 
life.  We  believe  this  little  volume  will  influence  public 
opinion  even  at  this  late  day.  “Great  Japan”  would 
be  greater  still  if  the  ruling  party  could  see  things  as 
the  author  of  this  volume  does — through  Christian  and 
historic  eyes.  The  Empire  has  made  unparalleled 
progress  within  half  a century;  that  glory  has  been 
eclipsed  by  events  in  Korea  and  in  relation  to  Shan- 
tung in  China,  happening  within  a twelvemonth.  The 
best  sentiment  in  that  Empire  regrets  most  sincerely 
the  base  acts  of  their  rulers.  May  we  not  hope  that 
this  epitome  of  recent  history  will  stir  multitudes  to  a 
sense  of  duty  toward  a nation  absorbed  against  its  will 
within  the  body  politic  of  a powerful  neighbour  which 
might  be  its  friend  and  savior,  but  which  has  become 
its  hated  master  because  of  actions  like  those  here 
chronicled.  We  hail  this  little  volume  as  a contribu- 
tion toward  Far-Eastern  freedom  and  self-determina- 
tion. 

HARLAN  P.  BEACH. 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  U.  S.  A. 


6 


PREAMBLE 

“Is  it  worth  while  for  any  of  us  to  live  any 
longer?  Our  people  have  become  the  slaves  of  oth- 
ers, and  the  spirit  of  a nation  which  has  stood  for  four 
thousand  years,  since  the  day  of  Tan-Gun  and  Ke-ja, 
has  perished  in  a single  night.  Alas!  fellow  country- 
men, alas!” 

Thus  did  the  Whang  Sun  Shinmun,  a Korean 
newspaper  published  in  Seoul,  express  the  heartache  of 
Korea  when  the  momentous  events  of  the  night  of 
November  17,  1905,  became  known.  So  long  as  men 
love  liberty,  the  story  will  be  told  of  how  through  the 
long  night,  the  Korean  Emperor  and  his  Cabinet  re- 
fused the  Treaty  which  meant  the  destruction  of  the 
nation.  The  Japanese  delegation  argued,  threatened, 
and  insisted  while  all  around  the  Palace  the  Japanese 
Army  made  demonstrations,  with  troops  fully  armed 
and  field  guns  in  position.  With  the  dawning  of  an- 
other day,  the  argument  of  the  fixed  bayonet  proved 
successful,  helpless  Korea  was  crushed  and  Japan’s 
ambition  realized.  Following  the  treaty  of  1905  came 
that  of  1907,  and  then  the  formal  annexation  in  1910 
was  almost  a foregone  conclusion,  thus  completing  the 
political  subjugation  of  Korea.  It  is  fifteen  years  since 
that  dark  night  in  Korean  history  which  marked  the 
beginning  of  the  end,  and  since  the  dirge  of  the 
Whang  Sun  Shinmun  expressed  the  humiliation  and 
heartbreak  of  a proud  people.  Yet  the  remarkable 
fact  remains,  that  instead  of  being  a dead  issue  by 
reason  of  the  passing  of  the  years,  the  whole  Korean 
question  is  still  before  the  world,  and  even  the  West- 
ern peoples,  often  so  obtuse  on  Oriental  issues,  know 
that  it  is  only  in  a political  sense  that  Korea  is  today 
part  of  the  Japanese  Empire.  Thus  to  all  students  of 
Asiatic  affairs,  Korea  is  still  Korea,  not  Chosen  and 
certainly  not  Japan,  for  it  is  the  verdict  of  history 
that  questions  of  nationality  which  are  only  settled 
arbitrarily  and  politically,  are  not  settled  at  all. 

7 


BIRTH  OF  A NATION 

Korean  nationality  is  based  on  a history  of  over 
four  thousand  years,  and  the  student  and  schoolboy 
can  point  back  with  veneration  to  the  days  of  the 
mystical  Tan  Gun,  of  whose  rule  and  era,  relics  can 
still  be  traced,  and  remind  himself  that  this  period  of 
history  antedated  the  founding  of  Rome  by  sixteen 
hundred  years.  We  can  recall  the  events  of  Korean 
history  back  through  the  centuries  to  the  day  when 
Jesus  walked  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  and  still  know 
that  we  have  not  then  travelled  half  the  journey  of 
which  Korean  records  tell  us.  If  it  should  be  insisted 
that  those  first  centuries  lack  authentic  detail  and  are 
vague  and  shadowy,  that  those  were  centuries  the 
history  of  which  is  largely  conjecture,  then  we  will  be 
content  to  forget  the  story  of  the  nine  tribes  and  the 
first  twelve  hundred  years  following  Tan  Gun,  and 
date  formal  nationality  of  the  Koreans  from  1122  B. 
C.  with  the  founding  of  the  Ke-ja  dynasty.  Thus  over 
three  thousand  years  ago  began  the  regular  and 
authentic  nationality  of  the  people  called  Koreans. 

The  walls  of  the  city  Ke-ja  built  can  still  be 
traced  and  his  tomb  is  held  sacred  today.  The  reason 
for  the  coming  of  Ke-ja  from  China  to  Korea  is 
itself  an  evidence  of  the  chivalry  and  loyalty  of  that 
great  and  wise  ruler,  and  was  a harbinger  of  the  pos- 
session of  those  same  qualities  by  the  race  which  was 
to  follow  him.  Ke-ja  had  been  a faithful  minister  of 
the  Chinese  Emperor,  but  his  fidelity  had  been 
repaid  with  imprisonment  and  harsh  treatment.  Yet 
when  the  old  Emperor  was  deposed  and  his  successor 
offered  Ke-ja  reinstatement  in  his  high  office,  his  fine 
sense  of  loyalty  to  his  old  master  restrained  him  from 
accepting,  and,  gathering  together  five  thousand  fol- 
lowers, he  migrated  to  Korea  and  there  founded  a 
kingdom  which  he  called  “The  Land  of  the  Morning 

8 


Calm.”  Here  he  introduced  the  culture  and  civiliza- 
tion of  China,  as  well  as  the  elements  of  an  industrial 
system,  and  from  him,  the  uncouth  and  nomad  people 
of  the  peninsula,  learnt  not  only  the  arts  of  agriculture, 
but  also  the  principles  of  right  living  and  virtuous  con- 
duct. Ke-ja  ruled  for  three  decades  and  from  his 
wise  and  beneficent  character  and  acts,  imparted  an 
influence  which  was  of  value,  not  only  to  the  dynasty 
he  founded,  and  which  lasted  for  nine  centuries,  but 
which  has  no  doubt  persisted  to  a real  extent  through 
all  the  long  centuries  since. 


9 


KOREA  LIGHTENS  JAPAN’S  DARKNESS 

Overthrowing  the  Ke-ja  dynasty,  Wiman  began 
his  reign,  but  the  time  was  approaching  when  Korea 
was  to  begin  to  experience  the  meaning  of  being  a 
buffer  state.  In  1 08  B.  C.,  being  defeated  by 
China,  Korea,  (or  Chosen,  to  use  the  ancient  name) 
was  divided  into  four  military  provinces,  and  for  the 
next  century,  until  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era, 
remained  sub-divided,  though  with  but  little  inter- 
ference from  China,  and  in  reality  possessing  self- 
government. 

The  next  six  hundred  years  are  of  great  interest 
as  marking  the  effect  and  value  of  the  impact  of  Korea 
on  Japan.  This  was  the  “Three  Kingdom”  period  of 
Korean  history,  when  the  political  conditions  were  suf- 
ficiently stable  for  long  periods  at  a time  to  enable 
Korea  to  receive  from  China  through  steady  streams 
of  immigrants,  all  phases  of  culture,  learning,  indus- 
trialism, and  religion,  and  to  thoroughly  assimilate 
these  influences.  Having  thus  become  possessed  of 
the  various  factors  of  civilized  life,  and  having  learned 
the  practice  of  the  arts  and  sciences  and  virtues  of  the 
Eastern  world,  Korea  commenced  to  display  capacity 
for  teaching  as  well  as  learning,  giving  as  well  as 
receiving,  and  became  a prime  instrument  in  the  civil- 
ization of  Japan.  By  the  same  method  of  migration, 
Korea  commenced  to  lighten  the  darkness  of  Japan 
and  to  emancipate  that  island  people  from  the  bonds 
of  superstition  and  ignorance,  commencing  a move- 
ment in  culture  and  civilization,  which  Japan  was  to 
develop  so  wonderfully  in  the  next  twelve  centuries. 
In  405,  a celebrated  Korean  scholar  named  Wani 
went  to  Japan  and  there  introduced  the  arts  of  writing, 
of  keeping  records,  and  of  general  scholarship. 

Many  such  scholars  went  to  Japan  from  Korea 
during  the  fifth  century.  During  the  sixth  century  was 

10 


witnessed  the  conversion  of  Japan  to  Buddhism 
through  the  endeavors  of  Korean  missionaries,  whose 
efforts  met  with  such  spectacular  success,  that  this  has 
been  called  the  most  successful  evangelistic  effort 
which  the  world  has  ever  seen.  For  over  a century 
and  a half,  Buddhism  had  flourished  in  Korea  and 
now  some  missionaries,  with  an  image  of  Buddha  and 
some  of  the  sacred  books,  were  sent  to  Japan.  In 
fifty  years  the  native  gods  of  Japan  were  forgotten 
and  the  religion  of  Buddha  reigned  supreme.  Writing 
of  this  period,  Longford  says: 

“Civilization  and  Buddhism  went  hand  in  hand 
through  all  Japan  that  in  those  days  acknowledged  the 
rule  of  the  Emperor  in  Yamato  (the  north,  it  is  to  be 
remembered,  was  still  held  by  the  savage  and  uncon- 
quered Ainos).  The  original  teachers  of  both  were 
exclusively  Korean,  and  many  of  the  architectural  and 
artistic  triumphs  of  the  early  Korean  proselytes  are 
still  in  existence.  For  its  earliest  knowledge  of  music 
and  dancing,  of  astronomy,  geography  and  calendar- 
making, and  of  the  less  creditable  arts  of  magic,  invisi- 
bility, and  geomancy,  Japan  was  also  indebted  to 
Korea.” 

Dr.  Inazo  Nitobe  said  recently  in  paying  tribute 
to  Korea’s  historic  contributions  to  Japan’s  awakening 
and  development: 

“Korea  was  once  a powerful  and  advanced 
nation,  from  whom  Japan  learned  most  of  her  ancient 
arts  and  crafts.’’  Then  he  adds  the  poetic  figure,  “The 
Korean  Peninsula,  jutting  out  into  the  Japan  Sea,  was 
like  a phial  from  which  was  poured  milk  and  honey 
into  the  mouth  of  Japan.” 


II 


THE  SWINGING  PENDULUM 

During  the  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth  centuries, 
Korea  gradually  became  a united  people,  with  a terri- 
tory including  nearly  the  whole  peninsula,  and  all  the 
time,  though  in  varying  degrees,  made  progress  in  all 
the  arts  of  civilization.  In  935  Wang  Kien  founded 
the  dynasty  which  bears  his  name,  and  he  became 
ruler  over  the  entire  peninsula,  a kingdom  which 
proudly  retained  integrity  of  territory  for  nearly  a 
thousand  years,  until  the  recent  annexation  by  the 
Japanese  Empire.  The  reign  of  Wang  Kien  is  remem- 
bered for  its  wise  statesmanship  and  many  reforms. 
Preceded  by  a period  in  which  foY  a few  decades, 
Korea  had  been  stagnant,  if  not  actually  decadent, 
Wang  Kien  revived  the  national  sentiment  and  ambi- 
tion. His  wise  innovations  included  a system  of  civil 
service  examinations,  a system  which  Korea  main- 
tained during  the  following  ten  centuries  of  her  inde- 
pendent life.  During  the  four  and  a half  centuries 
of  this  dynasty,  there  were  both  creditable  and  dis- 
creditable periods  of  Korean  history,  which  it  is  not 
necessary  to  discuss  in  detail  here.  It  may  be  pointed 
out,  however,  that  one  factor  mitigating  against  the 
continuity  of  the  progress  the  nation  had  shown  in 
reecnt  years,  was  the  development  of  an  extreme  type 
of  Buddhism,  which  for  a time  caused  a national 
paralysis  and  stopped  all  progress  toward  a higher 
civilization.  A state  of  civil  war  resulted  at  one  period 
from  the  ambitions  of  the  two  rival  factors  in  the 
nation,  the  Confucian  noble  and  the  Buddhist  priest. 
In  addition  to  those  internal  disorders,  much  of  the 
virility  of  Korea  was  sapped  away  by  the  ever-threat- 
ening Mongol  hordes  on  her  northern  frontier.  At 
last  this  particular  storm  broke,  and  Korea  came  under 
Mongol  sway  and  the  rule  of  the  “seventy-two  pre- 
fects” began.  Then  commenced  a period,  the  mis- 

12 


fortunes  of  which  were  felt  by  Korea  for  a long  time. 
A vassal  of  the  Mongol  court  during  the  far-flung  sway 
of  Kublai  Khan,  Korea  had  little  need  to  fight,  and  so, 
for  a time,  lost  much  of  the  old  fighting  qualities,  and 
the  accompanying  strength  and  morale.  Man-power 
and  material  wealth  was  the  tribute  demanded,  and 
having  poured  out  these,  all  Korea  received  in  return 
was  the  virulent  enmity  of  Japan,  against  whose  island 
coasts,  the  Mongol  fleet,  equipped  with  the  flower  of 
Korean  manhood,  had  flung  itself  in  vain.  For  cen- 
turies after  this,  the  lives  of  Korean  fishermen  and 
coast-town  residents,  were  made  miserable  by  the 
guerilla  sea-warfare  of  Japan.  Oppressed  from  with- 
out, and  distressed  within,  the  cup  of  Korea’s  unhap- 
piness was  made  to  overflow  by  the  corruption  and 
debauchery  of  her  own  Kings  at  this  time. 


13 


A GOLDEN  AGE 

It  is  refreshing  and  agreeable  to  turn  from  the 
inauspicious  ending  of  the  old  sovereignty,  and  to  find 
in  1 392  the  founding  by  Yi  Taijo  of  the  new  dynasty 
which  bears  his  name,  and  which  was  destined  to  last 
for  more  than  five  centuries,  right  to  our  own  day. 

The  reign  of  Taijo  began  a century  of  wise  and 
constructive  reforms  and  progress.  Out  of  the  chaos 
came  a new  and  welcome  order,  to  so  practical  an 
extent  that  soon,  re-disciplined,  Korea  was  able  to 
drive  off  the  Japanese  invaders  and  maintain  peace  in 
which  to  develop  her  coast  industries.  Civil  service 
and  taxation  reforms,  the  decay  of  feudalism,  the 
commencement  of  printing  with  movable  type,  the 
invention  of  the  “On  Mun”  alphabet,  are  all  charac- 
teristic illustrations  of  the  progress  of  the  first  century 
of  the  Taijo  dynasty.  Then  followed  a decade  of 
national  backsliding,  when,  because  of  the  vile  mis- 
rule of  the  Yansan  regime,  the  nation  suffered  a moral 
and  economic  reaction.  But  again  sanity  triumphed, 
the  decade  of  night  passed  and,  under  the  wise  and 
beneficent  rule  of  Chung  Jong,  began  what  has  been 
called  “The  Golden  Age  of  Korean  Morals.”  Assert- 
ing what  has  ever  been  a wonderful  recuperative 
capacity,  the  Korean  people  rose  from  the  slough  of 
degradation  to  one  of  the  moral  mountain  peaks  of 
their  history.  Of  this  period,  Hulbert  says  (History. 
Vol.  1 p.  320)  “The  people  took  on  a Puritan  sim- 
plicity. Men  and  women  walked  on  opposite  sides  of 
the  street.  If  any  article  was  dropped  on  the  road, 
no  one  would  touch  it,  but  would  leave  it  for  the 
owner  to  recover.  No  one  had  to  lock  his  doors  at 
night.”  The  story  of  those  days  is  an  idyll,  a poem. 
But  it  is  more.  It  is  a demonstration  of  the  moral  and 
religious  capacity  of  the  people,  an  evidence  of  the 
innate  nobility  of  character  which  it  needed  merely 

14 


an  era  of  peace  and  beneficent  leadership  to  develop. 
For  forty  years  Korea  gave  evidence  of  much  more 
than  the  mere  emergence  from  primitive  social  con- 
ditions; she  showed  the  possession  of  positive  quali- 
ties of  goodness  and  nobility.  Longford  (Story  of 
Korea  139)  describes  the  Korean  of  those  days  as 
“homogeneous,  industrious,  intelligent,  and  tranquil, 
living  in  physical  comfort  and  security.” 


15 


HIDEYOSHI 

But  now  the  sinister  figure  of  Hideyoshi  appears 
on  the  horizon,  a figure  of  ominous  portent  to  Korea. 
Following  negotiations  characterised  by  courtesy  on 
the  part  of  Korea  and  by  insolent  threats  from  Japan, 
Hideyoshi  anticipates  William  Hohenzollern  by  more 
than  three  centuries,  demanding  the  use  of  Korean  soil 
as  a highway  for  his  great  army  against  China.  But 
what  Belgium  said  in  1914,  Korea  said  in  1592,  and 
sprung  to  arms  to  defend  her  national  honor,  and  to 
preserve  her  land,  inviolate  and  unprofaned.  This 
was  before  the  days  of  the  use  of  correct  and  pon- 
derous phraseology  in  diplomatic  correspondence,  and 
the  historians  tell  us  that  the  Korean  final  reply  to  the 
Japanese  demand,  was  not  merely  definite,  it  was 
even  bold  and  derisive,  lashing  the  haughty  War-lord 
Hideyoshi  to  fury  and  causing  a speedy  invasion. 

With  wonderful  gallantry,  fighting  against  appar- 
ently overwhelming  odds,  suffering  many  defeats, 
Korea  still  refused  the  right  of  highway  and  finally 
her  tactics  of  guerilla  warfare  commenced  to  tell.  The 
iron  nerves  of  an  Oriental,  whether  of  man  or  nation, 
stand  much,  but  gradually  the  morale  of  the  Japanese 
army  commenced  to  weaken.  Korea  never  lost  heart, 
though  suffering  terrible  privations,  and  famine,  and, 
after  a remarkable  campaign  both  on  land  and  on  sea, 
Japan  was  beaten.  With  indomitable  spirit,  Korea 
refused  peace  until  the  last  invader  had  left  Korean 
soil.  On  the  breaking  down  of  negotiations  between 
China  and  Japan,  Hideyoshi’ s army  invaded  the 
peninsula  a second  time,  and  again  the  martial  spirit 
of  Korea  made  the  achievements  of  the  Japanese  very 
meagre  and  unproductive,  and  on  the  death  of 
Hideyoshi,  the  contingents  were  withdrawn.  It  is  of 
interest  to  note  as  another  evidence  of  the  great  cul- 
tural contribution  of  Korea  to  Japan,  that  the  retiring 

16 


Japanese  army  took  with  them,  not  only  a great 
accumulation  of  Korean  art  treasures,  but  also  many  of 
the  skilled  artisans  and  clever  artists  of  Korea,  and 
these  were  the  ancestors  of  the  now  world-famous 
Japanese  potters.  The  two  invasions  of  Korea  by 
Hideyoshi  are  a contribution  to  our  study  by  demon- 
strating both  the  ferocity  and  cupidity  of  the  Japanese 
of  that  day,  and  also  the  wonderful  heroism  of  Korea. 
The  Korean,  with  his  bows  and  arrows,  plus  his  undy- 
ing sense  of  nationality,  stopped  the  onward  rush  of 
the  hardened  and  armed  war  veterans  of  Hideyoshi. 
There  is  much  that  is  inspiring  in  the  records  of  those 
days  and  in  the  story  of  how  thousands  of  Koreans 
leapt  exultingly  to  death  so  that  Korea  might  abide 
in  honor.  But  the  price  was  so  heavy  and  the  result- 
ant sufferings  so  terrible  that  Japan  stood  to  the  gen- 
erations of  Koreans  that  followed,  as  “the  accursed 
nation.”  Not  even  yet,  with  history  books  or  with- 
out, has  Korea  forgotten  those  days  of  suffering  and 
outrage. 


17 


THE  HERMIT  NATION 

Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  Korea  com- 
menced to  pay  tribute  to  Japan,  which  nation,  despite 
the  treaty  of  withdrawal  which  she  had  signed,  still 
retained  a hold  on  Korea  at  Fusan.  In  China  the 
Manchus  had  overthrown  the  Ming  dynasty,  and  after 
being  twice  invaded  by  the  Manchurian  hordes,  Korea 
became  tributary  to  the  new  power  also.  Truly  a 
buffer  state!  Is  it  any  wonder  that  Korea  developed  a 
distrust  of  peoples  and  powers  outside  of  her  own 
borders?  The  only  world  she  had  known  was  that 
composed  of  China  and  Japan  and  from  both  of  these 
she  had  suffered  terribly.  Between  them,  like  a nut 
in  the  crackers,  she  had  been  crushed  and  bruised 
again  and  again.  Especially  by  Japan  had  she  been 
exploited,  oppressed,  outraged.  So  Korea  turns  to 
isolation  and  becomes  the  “hermit”  amongst  the 
nations.  There  is  something  intensely  pathetic  in  the 
spectacle  of  this  people  of  fine  social  qualities,  turning 
from  their  contact  with  other  peoples,  wounded  and 
crushed,  from  henceforth  distrustful  of  all,  and  seek- 
ing' the  seclusion  and  refuge  within  their  own  borders. 
It  is  like  the  maiden  whose  first  contact  with  the  world 
is  the  contact  with  brutal  men  and  who  soon  creeps 
back,  broken  and  disillusioned,  and  seeks  retreat 
within  the  massive  walls  of  the  “Refuge.” 

Shutting  as  tight  as  possible  her  coast  doors, 
Korea  proceeded  to  make  her  isolation  complete  by 
leaving  at  the  north,  a strip  of  land,  thirty  miles  in 
width,  wild  and  waste,  so  that  it  soon  became  well 
nigh  impassable.  Thrice  a year  the  border  gate  was 
opened  and  business  transacted  with  the  outside  world, 
and  once  a year  a great  and  imposing  embassy  with 
tribute,  was  sent  to  Peking.  For  two  hundred  and 
thirty  years  Korea  maintained  her  self-imprisonment 
and  remained  the  land  of  seclusion  and  mystery.  The 

18 


story  of  that  long  period,  in  so  far  as  it  has  been 
revealed  and  authenticated,  is  not,  unfortunately,  an 
exhibition  of  the  happiest  period  of  Koera’s  national 
and  social  life.  True  there  were  some  good  and  wise 
kings,  some  splendid  reforms  along  educational  and 
social  lines,  the  abolition  of  the  worst  methods  of 
criminal  punishment,  the  liberation  of  slaves  and  serfs. 
But  along  with  this  pleasing  portrayal  must  be  shown 
the  disastrously  ill  effects  of  the  party  strife . which 
cursed  the  nation.  Intrigue,  bribery,  assassination, 
conspiracy,  abounded.  The  people  who  had  flung 
back  in  his  teeth  the  challenge  of  Hideyoshi,  seemed 
lost  to  any  vestige  of  patriotism,  and  to  be  enervated 
and  nerveless.  The  extent  of  the  exploitation  of  the 
proletariat  has  possibly  never  been  surpassed  in  any 
country,  and  squalor  and  dejection  settled  on  the 
poor.  The  nobles  were  supreme,  but  the  value  of  the 
people  was  expressed  with  a cipher.  The  period  is 
not  a pleasing  study,  but  at  least  some  of  its  unhappi- 
ness and  sordidness  must  be  placed  to  the  blame  of 
that  spirit  of  dejection  and  distrust,  engendered  by  the 
unhappy  experiences  of  past  contact  with  other 
peoples,  which  led  to  that  abnormal  withdrawal  from 
the  world. 


19 


TAI  WON  KUN 

The  prominent  figure  of  Tai  Won  Kun  appears 
on  the  stage  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  for  many  years  takes  an  active  part  in  the  closing 
events  of  Korean  national  history.  With  a consistency 
and  strength  of  purpose  worthy  of  a better  cause,  he 
fought  year  after  year  the  least  suggestion  of  Korean 
relationship  with  the  outside  world,  whether  the  pro- 
posal came  by  means  of  warships,  missionaries,  or 
traders.  These  years  are  marred,  not  only  by  the 
extreme  exclusiveness  of  the  nation,  but  by  the  cruel 
massacres  of  missionaries,  whose  lives  had  been  char- 
acterized by  nothing  but  devotion  and  affectionate 
service.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  Tai 
Won  Kun  had  good  reason  for  hatred  and  distrust  of 
all  foreigners,  not  only  as  a student  of  past  Korean 
history,  but  because  of  actual  contact  with  them  during 
his  own  regime.  The  attempts  by  piratical  adventurers 
of  the  worst  type  to  enter  Korea,  incited  merely  by 
their  own  cupidity,  and  displaying  a wantonness  of 
human  life  in  endeavoring  to  attain  their  ends,  were 
not  calculated  to  broaden  the  sympathies  of  the 
narrow-minded  Regent.  Such  stories  as  that  of  Oppert 
and  the  desecrated  royal  grave  shed  a little  light  on 
the  dark  happenings  of  those  days.  Nor  were  the 
official  attempts  of  other  nations  to  enter  into  diplo- 
matic and  trade  relations  with  Korea  of  such  a nature 
as  to  implant  confidence,  however  friendly  may  have 
been  the  intent.  The  overtures  made  by  the  French 
and  American  governments  were  alike  summarily 
rejected.  At  the  same  time,  the  Korean  attitude  to 
Japan  was  at  least  equally  bitter  and  uncompromising. 
While  America  and  other  nations  were  knocking  at 
the  closed  door  and  asking  for  a peaceable  admission, 
Japan,  too,  was  seeking  closer  relationships  with  the 

20 


Hermit  Nation,  and  demanding  tribute.  Korea’s  esti- 
mate, both  of  Japan’s  power  and  of  her  sincerity,  is 
rather  succinctly  expressed  in  the  letter  written  by  Tai 
Won  Kun,  replying  to  Japan’s  demand  for  tribute. 

“We  no  longer  consider  each  other  friends,  but 
enemies.  The  tone  of  your  despatch  is  so  friendly 
that  we  look  upon  it  as  treachery,  and  after  having 
been  so  friendly  with  Japan,  and  being  repaid  with 
treachery,  we  never  can  be  friendly  again.’’ 

This  letter,  childish  as  it  is,  and  full  of  bluster, 
implies,  nevertheless,  a challenge,  not  only  to  Japan, 
but  to  all  Europe.  In  the  light  of  what  has  happened 
since,  and  of  the  relationship  today,  that  quaint  letter 
of  fifty  years  ago  is  not  without  significance.  Very 
speedily,  however,  it  became  clear  to  the  rulers  of 
Korea  that  it  would  not  long  be  possible  to  maintain 
her  isolation,  and  that,  with  or  without  her  consent, 
the  nations  now  knocking  at  her  portals  would  enter 
in.  In  1876  Korea  concluded  with  Japan  what  was 
known  as  the  “Treaty  of  Peace  and  Friendship,’’  prom- 
inent in  which  was  the  assertion  of  Korean  independ- 
ence, an  independence  both  of  China  and  of  Japan. 
Korea  was  described  as  a sovereign  state,  and  that  all 
intercourse  was  to  be  on  a basis  of  equality.  Six  years 
later  a riot  at  Seoul  and  the  killing  of  nine  Japanese 
furnished  the  Island  Empire  with  an  excuse  to  begin 
fastening  the  shackles  and  chains  of  dependency  about 
Korea.  Preferential  treatment  for  Japanese  traders 
and  the  right  of  Japan  to  station  her  troops  in  Seoul 
were  amongst  the  provisions.  The  Koreans  were  even 
compelled  to  agree  to  provide  barracks  for  these 
unwelcome  visitors. 


21 


EXIT  CHINA 

Now  began  another  of  those  periods  in  Korean 
history  in  which  Conservatism  and  Reform  struggled 
for  supremacy.  Korea’s  growing  knowledge  of  West- 
ern civilization,  the  first  evidences  of  which  she  met 
with  in  Japan,  and  her  closer  intimacy  with  that  coun- 
try, which  was  then  having  so  remarkable  a conver- 
sion to  Occidental  ideals  and  methods,  combined  to 
stimulate  a national  longing  for  saner  and  more  mod- 
ern conditions  of  life.  But  the  Queen  Regent,  who 
had  succeeded  Tai  Won  Kun  on  his  exile  to  China, 
became  ultra-conservative,  and  once  again  the  curse 
of  political  strife  prevented  Korea  from  stepping  out 
into  the  dawn  of  a modern  nationhood.  Then  came 
the  disturbance  of  1 884,  when  the  Progressive  ele- 
ment, with  the  aid  of  the  Japanese  troops,  overturned 
the  government  at  Seoul  and  gained  control  over  the 
King.  But  the  triumph  was  short-lived,  for  two  days 
later  troops  from  the  Chinese  camp  nearby  reversed 
the  situation,  and  restored  the  old  conditions.  The 
Treaty  of  1885  between  China  and  Japan,  in  which 
both  powers  agreed  to  withdraw  their  troops  from 
Korea  and  leave  her  to  work  out  her  own  salvation 
alone,  was  one  result.  The  other  result  was  an  intensi- 
fying of  the  hatred  and  distrust  of  Japan  by  Korea. 
For  the  next  decade,  1885  to  1895,  Western  ideals 
and  reforms,  and  the  spirit  of  a new  and  brighter  age, 
took  the  field  in  Korea  against  the  superstitions  and 
traditions  of  Chinese  civilization.  Light  fought  with 
darkness  and  many  victories  were  won  for  the  light. 
Much  of  reform  and  progress  came  to  the  life  of  the 
peninsula  in  those  days,  but  the  close  alliance,  political 
and  sympathetic  with  China,  and  the  widespread  sinol- 
ogy throughout  Korea,  prevented  a real  national  awak- 
ening. Referring  to  this  period  Longford  says: 

22 


“Populous  settlements  were  established  at  the 
open  ports.  Here  again  Japan  was  unfortunate.  The 
Japanese  who  came  to  these  ports  were  the  reverse  of 
a credit  to  their  country,  unscrupulous  adventurers, 
bullies  and  the  scum  of  all  the  ruffiandom  of  Japan 
predominated  among  them,  and  their  conduct  and 
demeanor  towards  the  gentle,  submissive  and  ignorant 
natives,  who  were  unresisting  victims  to  their  cupidity 
and  cruelty,  were  a poor  recommendation  of  the  new 
civilization  of  which  they  boasted.  On  the  other  hand, 
Chinese  traders  — law-observing,  peaceable,  and 
scrupulously  honest  in  all  their  transactions — were  liv- 
ing certificates  of  the  morality  engendered  by  a faith- 
ful observance  of  the  old.” 

The  Sino-Japanese  War  was  fought  partly  on 
Korean  soil,  but  the  influence  it  had  on  the  history  of 
the  nation  was  far  more  profound  than  any  physical 
effect.  The  “Peace  of  Shimonoseki”  marked  the  close 
of  China’ s long  suzerainty,  and  marked,  also,  the  be- 
ginning of  a realization  to  Japan  of  a long-cherished 
design  toward  Korea. 


23 


A LOST  CHANCE 

Under  Count  Inouye,  Japan,  confident  and  reliant 
after  her  recent  great  triumph  over  China,  began  now 
to  develop  her  advantage,  and  to  thrust  a variety  of 
reforms  on  Korea,  changes  in  customs  and  habits  for 
which  the  people,  so  recently  emerged  from  total 
seclusion,  were  quite  unready.  An  illustration  is  in  the 
arbitrary  insistence  on  the  immediate  adoption  of  the 
European  fashion  of  hair  dressing!  Thus  began  the 
stimulating  and  compelling  to  an  artificial  progress,  for 
which  great  credit  has  been  claimed  by  Japan,  but 
which  in  effect  meant  the  beginning  of  an  oppression  of 
the  weaker  by  the  stronger,  and  which  has  known  no 
cessation  right  to  the  present  day.  From  that  time  on 
the  administration  of  Korea  by  Japan  has  exceeded  in 
the  magnitude  of  its  follies  and  blunders,  the  unfor- 
tunate administration  of  Ireland  by  Great  Britain  during 
the  same  period,  not  to  mention  at  this  point  the  ele- 
ments of  inhumanity  and  persecution. 

It  is  of  importance  to  notice  that  the  Japanese  who 
settled  in  Korea  at  this  period,  were  of  the  crudest  and 
rudest  type.  Adventurers,  ruffians,  criminals,  poured 
into  Korea  in  those  days  from  Japan.  It  is  hard  for 
the  average  American  or  European  whose  only  personal 
acquaintance  with  Japan  has  been  with  the  student 
class  in  the  university  or  with  diplomatic  representa- 
tives, or  with  delegates  from  native  Christian  churches, 
and  has  found  these  to  be  refined,  courteous,  and  pol- 
ished gentlemen,  whom  we  welcome  in  our  homes,  and 
whose  friendship  we  prize, — to  understand  that,  even 
yet,  these  are  exceptions  to  the  general  rule  in  Japan. 
Still  less  can  we  picture  the  class  of  the  roughest  and 
most  uncouth,  who  went  as  adventurers  to  Korea  a 
quarter  of  a century  ago.  Under  the  despotic  and 
incompetent  regime  of  Miura,  the  Koreans  suffered 

24 


every  indignity  at  the  hands  of  the  Japanese.  Referring 
to  conditions  existing  during  this  period,  no  less  an 
authority  than  Count  Inouye,  the  late  governor,  wrote 
in  a prominent  Japanese  newspaper: 

“Under  such  circumstances,  it  would  be  a wonder 
if  the  Korean  developed  much  friendship  with  the 
Japanese.  It  is  natural  that  they  should  entertain  more 
amicable  feelings  toward  other  nations  than  toward  the 
Japanese.  For  this  state  of  things  the  Japanese  them- 
selves are  responsible.  Now  that  the  Chinese  are 
returning  to  Korea,  unless  the  Japanese  correct  them- 
selves and  behave  with  more  moderation,  they  will 
entirely  forfeit  the  respect  and  love  of  the  Koreans.” 

In  the  light  of  a later  day,  it  is  evident  that  Inouye 
was  prophet  as  well  as  statesman.  His  warning  was 
unheeded,  and  because  of  the  persistence  of  the  Japan- 
ese ever  since,  in  the  very  attitude  and  conduct  which 
he  deplored,  there  has  been  brought  about  that  which 
he  foretold — Japan  has  forfeited  forever  the  respect 
and  love  of  the  Korean  people. 


25 


EXIT  RUSSIA 

The  story  of  the  bloody  happenings  of  October, 
1895,  is  familiar.  Tai  Won  Kun  (who  had  been 
allowed  to  return  from  his  exile  at  Tienstin,  and  now 
lived  in  retirement  near  Seoul)  though  he  hated  the 
Japanese,  hated  the  Queen  still  more,  and  linking  his 
fortunes  with  Miura,  raided  the  palace.  The  queen  and 
her  ladies  were  murdered,  the  Japanese  assisting.  A 
tragedy  so  bloody  and  ferocious,  was  in  no  sense  calcu- 
lated to  impress  the  Koreans,  either  with  the  moral 
qualities  of  the  new  civilization  which  Japan  had 
adopted,  nor  with  the  bona  fides  of  her  friendship  for 
Korea.  Tokio  immediately  officially  disclaimed 
responsibility,  and  participation,  but  the  disclaimer  was 
primarily  for  the  outside  world.  Indeed  the  proclama- 
tion would  never  reach  the  ears  of  the  common  people 
in  Korea.  The  actions  of  the  Japanese  in  Seoul  were 
more  eloquent  to  the  Koreans  than  the  later  protesta- 
tions by  Tokio,  however  genuine  these  may  have  been. 
Having  fled  to  the  Russian  Legation,  the  king  and 
prince  set  up  the  Korean  government  there,  an  arrange- 
ment which  lasted  for  two  years,  and  which  has  left  a 
record  of  miserable  misrule  and  corruption.  In  1897 
the  king  took  up  residence  at  the  new  palace,  and 
adopted  the  title  of  emperor,  the  higher  title  serving 
as  an  intimation  to  both  Japan  and  China  of  the  com- 
plete independence  of  Korea.  The  Russian  policy  of 
acquiring  Northern  Korea  and  many  concessions  on  the 
peninsula,  quickly  aroused  the  suspicions  of  Japan  who 
saw  that  Russian  ambitions  hoped  eventually  to  make 
Korea  a province  of  the  czar’s  empire.  The  sequel 
was  the  Russo-Japanese  war  of  1904-5,  the  result  of 
which  was  that  once  again  Korea  came  under  Japan- 
ese control,  and  Russia,  disastrously  beaten,  signed  a 
recognition  that  Japan  had  prior  interest  in  Korea,  and 

26 


a promise  not  to  interfere  with  Japanese  policy  there. 
The  pendulum  had  swung  once  more,  and  Japan’s 
desire  seemed  now  about  to  be  realized  in  the  perma- 
nent incorporation  of  Korea  in  the  Empire  of  Nippon. 
Following  the  Russian  war,  Korea  signed  an  agreement 
by  which  she  accepted  Japan  as  counsellor  and  advisor, 
while  Japan  on  her  part  guaranteed  to  maintain  the 
safety  and  honor  of  the  Imperial  House  of  Korea,  and 
the  independence  and  territorial  integrity  of  the  nation. 
It  all  seemed  modest  and  simple  enough,  but  it  sounded 
the  death  knell  of  a nation.  It  was  not  final,  for  the 
treaties  of  1905,  1907  and  1910  must  stand  together, 
but  the  first  of  the  three  dates  was  the  beginning  of  the 
end. 


27 


AN  APPEAL  THAT  FAILED 

In  1907  Korea,  in  desperation,  sent  an  embassy 
to  America  and  Europe  to  plead  for  Korea’s  life 
against  Japan.  There  is  much  that  is  pathetic  in  the 
spectacle  of  Korea,  so  lately  the  Hermit  Nation,  at 
whose  barred  doors  America  and  Europe  had  so 
recently  stood  knocking,  now  awakened  to  a belief  in 
the  friendship  and  good  will  of  the  Western  world, 
and  the  Western  religion,  herself  knocking  at  the  doors 
of  those  nations  in  the  extremity  of  her  need,  and  find- 
ing them  locked  against  her.  For  the  pathos  is  that 
Korea  knocked  in  vain.  Having  nothing  to  gain,  and 
possibly  much  to  lose  by  intervention,  and  Korea  being 
but  “one  of  the  least’’  of  the  world’s  brethren,  nothing 
was  done.  The  spectre  of  Japan,  the  new  war  wizard 
of  the  East,  with  the  scalps  of  great  China  and  greater 
Russia  at  her  belt,  and  boasting  invincibility,  cowed  the 
Western  world  then  as  the  same  spectre  was  to  do 
again,  twelve  years  later  at  Versailles.  The  rashness 
of  Korea’s  act  in  appealing  to  the  Occident  was  met  by 
the  retaliatory  Act  of  1907,  and  the  forced  abdication 
of  the  emperor.  Now  all  Korean  affairs  were  taken 
over  by  Japan,  and  the  Korean  army  disbanded.  The 
Japanese  resident  governor  became  virtually  a sov- 
ereign ruler  with  wide  dictatorship  powers.  Korean 
officials  were  displaced  and  Japanese  appointed. 
Considerable  guerilla  warfare  lasted  for  a long  time, 
but  it  was  a pathetically  hopeless  struggle  of  the 
weak  against  the  strong.  The  end  was  a foregone 
conclusion.  The  futility  of  Korea’s  appeal  to  the  Hague 
gave  Japan  the  signal  for  which  she  had  waited  and 
plotted  so  long.  Obviously  there  was  no  prospect  of 
interference  by  the  Western  world.  The  new  emperor 
reigned  only  three  years.  On  August  22,  1910,  Korea 
was  formally  annexed  to  the  Japanese  Empire.  Long- 
ford says  in  his  Story  of  Korea  (p.  361  ) : 

28 


“The  dynasty  of  sovereigns,  which  had  continued 
in  an  unbroken  line  from  1 392,  came  to  an  end  with 
the  independence  of  their  country,  whose  national  tra- 
ditions and  history  had  extended  over  four  thousand 
years,  whose  foundation  as  a kingdom  was  coeval  with 
that  of  the  Assyrian  Empire;  and  the  two  last  living 
representatives  of  the  dynasty  exchanged  their  posi- 
tions as  imperial  dignitaries  for  those  of  princes  and 
pensioners  of  Japan.’’ 

The  national  tragedy  reads  strangely  like  some 
of  the  individual  tragedies  recorded  in  sacred  lore. 
Prostrate  Korea  suggests  the  murdered  Naboth,  or  the 
gallant  Uriah  lying  slain  on  the  battlefield.  Dean  C.  R, 
Brown  in  his  book  “The  Story  Books  of  the  Early 
Hebrews’’  might  well  be  speaking  of  the  tragedy  of 
Korea. 

“The  program  was  carried  through  without  a 
single  hitch.  It  went  as  smoothly  as  a well-arranged 
church  wedding  rehearsed  in  advance.  The  story  reads 
like  the  graphic  account  in  next  day’s  paper.  They 
proclaimed  a fast  and  set  Naboth  on  high.  The  men 
of  Belial  bare  witness  against  him,  saying,  Naboth  did 
curse  God  and  the  king.  They  carried  him  forth  out 
of  the  city  and  stoned  him  that  he  died.  They  sent  to 
Jezebel,  saying,  Naboth  is  dead.  And  Jezebel  said  to 
Ahab,  Arise  and  take  possession  of  the  vineyard,  for 
Naboth  is  dead.’ 

“Where  there  is  a will  there  is  a way!  How 
smoothly  these  things  can  be  arranged  by  royal  edict! 
‘What  is  the  Constitution  among  friends’  or  the  Ten 
Commandments  or  the  whole  Moral  Order  where  we 
stand?  Arise  and  take  possession  of  all  the  good 
things  your  heart  craves,  for  Naboth  and  all  other 
obstacles  have  been  put  out  of  the  way!  This  has 
been  the  method  of  selfish,  cruel  worldlings  from  the 
days  of  Jezebel  to  the  present  hour.  God  was  not  in 
all  their  thoughts,’’  or  again  in  another  chapter: 

“Joab  executed  his  orders  and  presently  this 
message  came  back  to  the  king,  ‘Thy  servant  Uriah 
is  dead.’  David’s  answer  to  Joab  was  an  ugly  mixture 

29 


of  cruelty  and  duplicity,  ‘Let  not  this  thing  displease 
thee,  for  the  sword  devoureth  one  as  well  as  another.’ 
“The  way  was  now  open  for  him  to  carry  out  the 
whole  program  which  he  had  formed  in  the  unhal- 
lowed desire  of  his  heart.  ‘When  the  wife  of  Uriah 
heard  that  her  husband  was  dead,  she  mourned  for 
her  husband.  And  when  the  mourning  was  passed’ — 
1 fear  that  in  her  state  of  mind  it  was  not  greatly  pro- 
longed— ‘David  sent  and  fetched  her  to  his  house  and 
she  became  his  wife  and  bare  him  a son.  But  the 
thing  that  David  had  done  displeased  the  Lord.’  This 
last  sentence  is  a cloud  in  the  sky,  no  larger  than  a 
man’s  hand,  but  out  of  it  will  come  a scorm  of  moral 
indignation  to  beat  in  pitiless  fashion  upon  the  head 
of  this  royal  wrong-doer.’’ 

When  will  the  nations  of  the  earth,  themselves 
enjoying  liberty  and  loving  justice,  face,  not  Japan, 
but  the  soulless  militarism  which  has  committed  so 
great  a crime,  and  say,  with  the  fearlessness  of  the 
prophet  Nathan,  “Thou  art  the  man’’? 

Of  course  Japan  hastened  to  cover  her  duplicity 
and  broken  pledges  with  specious  excuses.  In  her 
proclamation,  the  Japanese  government  stated  that 
“they  have  failed  to  find  in  the  regime  of  a protec- 
torate, sufficient  hope  for  the  realisation  of  the  object 
which  they  had  in  view,  and  a condition  of  unrest  and 
disquietude  still  prevails  throughout  the  whole  penin- 
sula.’’ Let  Korean  history  subsequent  to  annexation 
bear  witness  whether  or  not  the  problem  of  the  “con- 
dition of  unrest  and  disquietude’’  has  been  solved.  A 
decade  has  passed  since  Korea  was  annexed,  and  since 
the  reason  given  was  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of 
the  East,  and  the  ideal  of  good  government  for  Korea. 
As  announced  to  the  world,  the  aims  sounded  worthy 
and  commendable,  but  the  achievements  have  been 
disappointing  in  the  extreme.  The  result  to  Korea 
has  been  another  era  of  bloodshed,  torture,  and  strife, 
accompanied  by  reforms  imposed  from  without,  instead 
of  a development  from  within.  To  Japan  the  situa- 
tion has  brought  suspicion  and  hostility  from  quarters 
where  she  is  most  in  need  of  friends. 


30 


The  Japan  Advertiser,  published  in  Tokio,  was 
in  June,  1919,  in  no  sense  a sponsor  for  the  claims  to 
independence  made  by  Korea,  but  yet  at  this  time, 
speaking  editorially,  the  journal  makes  the  severest 
arraignment  of  the  colonizing  method  of  Japan. 

“Koreans  are  subjected  to  race  discrimination  in 
its  most  personal  and  irritating  forms.  Japanese  offi- 
cials doing  the  same  work  as  Korean  officials — it  may 
be  a policeman  or  it  may  be  a public  servant  of  rank — 
receive  higher  pay.  Wherever  the  traveler  goes  in  the 
peninsula  the  hand  of  an  alien  government  is  seen. 
The  very  porters  in  the  railway  stations  are  Japanese; 
the  Korean  who  carries  your  bag  to  your  hotel  waits 
humbly  outside  the  station  and  receives  it  from  the 
uniformed  ‘redcap’  of  the  conquering  race. 

“All  this  seems  to  the  Korean  Government- 
General  to  be  right  and  necessary  or  it  would  not  be 
done.  But  conceive  the  effect  on  the  Koreans.  They 
see  themselves  made  a nation  of  helots  and  no  hope 
is  held  out  to  them  that  they  can  attain  a self-respect- 
ing position  of  partnership  in  the  Japanese  Empire. 
The  result  is  a sudden  outburst  of  passive  revolt,  so 
widespread  and  so  despairing  that  the  picture  the  world 
had  seen  of  an  efficiently  governed  and  contented 
dependency  is  blotted  out.” 

In  a later  issue,  discussing  the  case  of  China  as 
well  as  Korea,  the  editor  finds  in  the  Korean  situation 
the  sternest  arraignment  of  the  whole  government 
policy  relating  to  extra- Japanese  affairs. 

“Japan’s  test  as  a colonizing  Power  is  Korea.  If 
the  end  of  ten  years’  uninterrupted  control  is  a revolt 
which  reveals  a system  of  government  contrary  to  the 
principles  of  the  time  and  the  experience  of  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  in  the  suppression  of  which  methods 
so  brutally  harsh  are  employed  that  they  have  visibly 
dug  a gulf  of  hatred  and  fear  between  rulers  and  ruled, 
how  can  she  claim  to  be  entrusted  with  authority  in 
China?  We  have  discussed  this  question  mainly  as  it 
affects  Japan’s  international  standing,  but  it  is  not  one 
for  governments  alone.  It  is  for  the  people  of  Japan 
to  consider  whether,  with  Korea  before  their  eyes,  they 

3! 


can  afford  to  let  their  authorities  incur  similar  risks  in 
China.” 

A third  editorial  from  the  same  journal  develops 
the  charge  so  often  made  of  the  similarity  of  Japanese 
methods  in  Korea  with  those  of  Germany  in  Belgium. 

“When  evidence  of  Japan  s qualifications  is  sought 
for,  statesmen  must  first  turn  to  Korea,  Japan’ s greatest 
experiment  in  the  art  of  governing  an  alien  people. 
What  is  the  evidence  of  Korea?  In  the  last  three 
months  Japanese  military  forces  have  applied  methods 
there  which  do  not  differ  in  any  way  from  the  methods 
employed  by  the  Germans  in  Belgium.  This,  if  it  were 
untrue,  would  be  an  atrocious  charge  to  make.  Unfor- 
tunately the  facts  leave  no  other  description  possible. 
They  are  admitted  by  the  Governor-General  and  the 
Premier.  They  are  known  to  the  governments  and 
the  press  of  foreign  countries  and  they  have  been  accu- 
rately and  moderately  reported  in  the  Japan  Adver- 
tiser. They  are  open  to  the  press  so  far  as  we  can 
see,  but  the  Japanese  newspapers,  instead  of  inquiring 
into  incidents  which  make  comparisons  between  Jap- 
anese and  German  military  methods  inevitable,  are 
content  to  repeat  unproved  charges  of  foreign  instiga- 
tion.” 

With  head  buried  in  the  sand,  ostrich-like,  Japan 
fails  to  see  what  is  clear  to  every  nation  of  the  Western 
world,  that,  unless  she  gives  evidence  of  a speedy 
conversion,  she  must  for  all  time  be  pilloried  with 
Germany,  as  being  alien  in  spirit  to  the  world  con- 
sciousness of  the  time.  Every  true  friend  of  Japan 
urges  a lifting  of  the  head  and  the  honest  facing  of  the 
issues. 


32 


■ 


. 


' 

■ 


BIRDSEYE  VIEW  OF  CITY  OF  SEOUL 


THE  HEART  OF  HIDEYOSHI 

Many  of  the  reforms  under  Ito  were  wise,  benefi- 
cent, and  far-reaching,  especially  in  cleansing  the  Court 
of  its  vicious  practices  and  corruption,  and  in  setting 
up  new  standards  for  the  administration  of  justice. 
But  the  eulogies  of  these  reforms  by  the  historians  of 
that  period  make  strange  reading  in  the  light  of  the 
events  of  the  few  years  that  followed.  Particularly 
eulogistic  are  the  references  to  the  Ito  reforms  in  the 
Korean  penal  system,  by  the  institution  of  humani- 
tarian methods  in  treatment  of  prisoners,  the  abolition 
of  torture,  the  improvements  in  the  police  force,  and 
the  restrictions  of  the  death  penalty.  Studied  from  this 
present  side  of  1919,  the  record  becomes  a satire.  It 
is  true  that  great  material  benefits  have  come  to  Korea 
since  1910,  in  that  roads  have  been  built,  railways 
lengthened,  schools  multiplied,  and  trade  developed. 
This  is  the  record,  and  a true  one,  which  Japanese 
propaganda  has  carried  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
But  that  the  heart  of  Japan  toward  Korea  is  still  the 
heart  of  Hideyoshi,  that  every  reform  in  Korea  has 
been  primarily  for  the  benefit  of  the  Japanese  resident, 
and  to  advance  the  political  plans  of  Japan,  and  that 
the  one  supreme  purpose  has  ever  been  the  assimila- 
tion of  the  Korean  and  the  destruction  of  his  race  so 
that  the  incorporation  of  the  peninsula  in  the  Empire 
of  Nippon  be  made  more  absolute — these  things  the 
inarticulateness  of  Korea  has  prevented  the  world 
from  hearing.  Nor  was  it  until  March,  1919,  that 
Korea  spoke  out,  and  her  only  propaganda  then  was 
the  eloquence  of  the  blood  of  her  martyred  sons  and 
daughters.  Some  writers,  anxious  to  defend  Japan, 
have  professed  to  find  a parallelism  in  the  case  of 
Britain  and  Egypt.  Waiving  the  question  as  to  what 
connection  Britain  and  Egypt  have  with  Japan  and 

33 


Korea,  it  is  readily  seen  that  the  illustration  suggested 
is  not  fortunate.  The  case  of  Egypt  only  suggests  that 
of  Korea  by  contrast.  British  administrators  in  Egypt 
today  are  not  facing  an  hereditary  hatred  and  distrust, 
engendered  by  the  experience  of  centuries  of  brutal 
misrule,  oppression,  and  exploitation.  When  Korea 
was  formally  annexed,  the  Emperor  of  Japan  in  his 
proclamation  promised  that  “all  Koreans  under  his 
sway  shall  enjoy  growing  prosperity  and  welfare,  and 
be  assured  of  repose  and  security.”  The  sorrows  and 
discontent  of  Korea  during  these  years  are  sufficient 
commentary  on  the  spectacular  failure  both  of  Japan’ s 
colonizing  methods  and  on  her  ability  to  make  good 
the  Imperial  promises.  The  Japanese  point  of  view, 
proclaimed  untiringly  to  the  world,  and  no  doubt  hon- 
estly believed  by  the  rank  and  file  in  Japan,  was  that 
the  Koreans  were  quite  unfitted  for  self-rule,  that 
hereditary  feuds  and  corrupt  intrigues  were  so  deep- 
rooted  as  to  be  ineradicable.  What  Japan  proclaimed 
from  the  housetops,  the  world  heard,  but  few  and 
feeble  were  the  articulations  of  Korea.  Nor  could  the 
gravamen  of  the  charges  be  in  any  case  disputed.  In 
many  ways,  and  at  many  times  in  her  history,  Korea  has 
displayed  grave  irregularities  and  singular  obtuseness 
in  governmental  matters,  and  many  a page  of  her  story 
is  read  with  shame  by  the  loyal  Korean  today.  All 
this  is  true — of  what  nation  with  a far  briefer  history 
is  it  not  true? — but  what  is  forgotten  is  that  some  of 
the  most  unhappy  conditions  of  recent  years,  and  which 
were  the  most  quoted  in  the  evidence  against  her,  were 
because  of  the  baneful  influence  and  demoralizing  asso- 
ciation of  the  “strangers  within  her  gates.”  Only  a 
jaundiced  study  of  Korean  history  can  fail  to  trace 
the  qualities  of  patriotism,  of  statesmanship,  of  efficient 
ruling  and  of  national  integrity,  even  in  the  darkest 
and  least  creditable  periods  of  her  history. 


34 


THE  ARGUMENT  OF  FORMOSA 

The  case  of  Formosa  is  often  quoted  as  an  argu- 
ment in  defense  of  the  present  Japanese  policy  in 
Korea.  Longford  (Story  of  Korea,  363)  says,  “The 
Japanese  have  redeemed  their  initial  error  in  Formosa, 
and  under  their  rule  it  is  becoming  a prosperous  colony; 
and  its  inhabitants  of  Chinese  descent,  more  alien  in 
race,  language,  customs,  and  ideas  to  the  Japanese 
than  are  the  Koreans,  have,  we  are  told,  forgotten  the 
cruelty  to  which  they  were  at  first  subjected,  and 
under  just  and  strict  government,  are  becoming  orderly 
and  contented  citizens  of  the  Japanese  Empire.”  He 
proceeds  to  ask,  “May  we  not  hope  that  a similar  suc- 
cess will,  ere  many  years  have  lapsed,  be  achieved  in 
Korea,  and  that  the  immense  material  benefits  which 
the  Japanese  have  already  conferred  on  the  country, 
will  be  followed  by  the  heart-whole  conciliation  of  the 
people?”  This  hope  is  built  upon  a fallacious  premise. 
The  cases  of  Formosa  and  Korea  have  very  little  in 
common.  What  are  the  facts  regarding  Formosa? 
Japan  acquired  that  southern  island  a quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  after  the  war  with  China,  not  because 
Japan  wanted  it  particularly,  but  because  there  was 
little  else  available  as  a prize  of  war.  The  population 
totaled  about  one  quarter  that  of  Korea,  the  bulk  of 
whom  were  of  the  Chinese  race  with  numerous  small 
tribes  of  head-hunting  savages.  The  first  task  of  Japan 
was  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos,  and  in  this  she  speedily 
had  splendid  success.  Brigandage  was  crushed,  trade 
developed,  production  increased,  and  many  modern 
reforms  of  railways,  sewage  systems,  etc.,  introduced. 

Great  credit  is  due  Japan  for  her  accomplish- 
ments of  reform  in  Formosa,  but  in  no  sense  did  she 
face  the  same  conditions  and  problems  then  as  she  did 
fifteen  years  later,  when  Korea  was  added  to  the  same 

35 


Empire.  Formosa  had  no  history,  no  continuity  of 
race,  no  nationhood.  She  had  no  pride  of  national 
identity  and  cherished  no  names  of  great  and  illustrious 
heroes.  Material  prosperity,  the  subjugation  of  the 
head-hunters,  remunerative  labor — these  were  all  For- 
mosa demanded,  and  granted  these,  it  was  of  little 
moment  whether  the  flag  of  the  Rising  Sun,  the  Union 
Jack,  or  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  flew  over  the  Official 
Residence.  Dr.  Nitobe,  lecturing  to  the  Japan  Society 
in  London,  in  December,  1919,  on  Japan  as  a colon- 
izing power,  pointed  out  this  fact.  He  said,  “In  its 
short  history,  Formosa  had  been  under  Portuguese, 
Spanish,  Dutch,  French,  and  Chinese  rule.  With  such 
changes  of  masters  there  is  little  patriotism  among 
the  people,  who,  nevertheless,  are  intelligent,  hard- 
working, and  law-abiding.  We  do  not  hear  of  self- 
determination  there.  It  is  quite  otherwise  with  Korea.” 
There  is  certainly  not  enough  connection  between  the 
conditions  Japan  faced  at  Formosa  and  is  now  facing 
in  Korea  to  base  any  hope  that  the  same  course  of 
events  will  be  brought  about. 


36 


ASSIMILATION 


Thoughtful  observers  of  a few  years  ago,  imme- 
diately following  annexation,  united  in  pointing  out  the 
great  social  and  material  benefits  which  were  a possible 
result  for  Korea  under  a wise  and  generous  control  by 
Japan.  But  every  prophecy  of  good,  every  optimistic 
forecast,  was  made  conditional  and  dependent  on  the 
sincerity  and  honesty  of  the  motives  of  Japan  and  on 
the  wisdom  and  magnanimity  she  henceforth  displayed. 
What  these  qualified  and  conditional  forecasts  really 
asked  was  the  question,  “Will  the  reforms  and  develop- 
ments made  by  Japan  be  for  Korea  or  for  herself?” 
Every  authority  agreed  on  the  unparalleled  opportunity 
which  had  come  to  Japan  to  display  statesmanship  and 
colonizing  ability  such  as  would  bring  to  her  the  confi- 
dence and  esteem  of  all  the  world.  Had  Japan  learned 
anything  from  South  Africa?  These  were  the  ques- 
tions which  students  of  affairs  in  the  Far  East  were 
asking  in  the  days  following  the  annexation.  The 
tragedy  of  Korea  today  is  the  answer  which  was  so 
speedily  given.  Japan  must  at  least  be  given  credit 
for  lucidity  and  finality  in  her  answer  to  the  world’s 
question.  She  did  not  hide  her  plans  under  a bushel, 
but  let  her  definite  fiat  to  the  people  of  the  peninsula 
be  universally  known.  “Assimilation  or  exile.”  “To 
the  victor,  the  spoils.”  Said  Premier  Hara,  of  Japan, 
to  Dr.  Schofield,  of  Seoul,  a Canadian  missionary,  in 
November,  1919,  “Japan’s  policy  is  the  assimilation  of 
the  Koreans.”  “Then,”  said  Dr.  Schofield,  “you  will 
face  a bloody  revolution.”  Reforms?  Yes.  Rail- 
ways, civic  improvements,  schools,  afforestation, 
improved  agriculture,  industrial  revival?  Yes,  all 
these.  But  all  accompanied  by  a discrimination  against 
the  Korean,  the  granting  of  greater  privileges  to  Jap- 
anese immigrants,  the  driving  to  exile  of  Korea’s  finest 

37 


men  and  women,  and  at  last,  a year  of  blood  in  1919. 
Japan,  with  the  legions  of  Hideyoshi,  crudely  and 
coarsely  and  brutally  plundered  Korea  three  centuries 
ago.  But  it  was  left  to  the  refinements  of  cruelty  of 
this  present  age  to  demand  what  Hideyoshi  never 
demanded,  the  extinction  of  race,  the  absorption  into 
a stock  which  Korea  not  only  regards  as  historically 
inferior,  but  towards  which  she  possesses  an  hereditary 
hatred.  A fanciful  Oriental  conception  based  on  the 
geographic  relationship  of  Korea  to  Japan,  likens  the 
peninsula  to  a dagger,  pointed  at  the  heart  of  Japan. 
An  alternative  and  happier  conception  would  have 
been  that  of  a hand  of  friendship  stretched  out,  or  a 
strong  arm  of  co-operation  and  union  of  purpose. 
Japan  herself  has  decided  for  the  dagger,  and  rejected 
the  hand-clasp.  It  has  been  cynically  said  that  in  the 
past,  Korea  has  known  only  two  political  parties,  the 
Ins  and  the  Outs.  Today  Korea  knows  but  one  party — 
a party  pledged  to  fight  and  suffer,  no  matter  how 
stern  or  long  the  fight,  nor  how  intense  the  suffering, 
until  Korean  nationality  lives  again  and  her  people 
are  no  longer  serfs  of  a foreign  nation  and  an  hered- 
itary foe. 

Have  the  Koreans  ever  been  acquiescent  to  the 
annexation  and  assimilation  plans  of  Japan?  There 
is  no  such  evidence,  but  abundance  of  proof  to  the 
contrary.  Individual  Koreans  have  fallen  to  the  temp- 
tation of  Japanese  gold  and  honors,  but  their  numbers 
are  comparatively  few.  Nor  are  instances  unknown 
where  prominent  foreigners  and  even  missionaries  have 
endorsed  the  Japanese  position,  and  not  always  from 
unworthy  motives.  But  these  exceptions  only  empha- 
size the  rule  of  virile  hostility  to  the  Japanese  Korean 
policy,  on  the  part  of  Koreans  and  foreigners  alike. 
Clear  evidence  is  given  in  the  speech  of  the  Japanese 
Chief  Procurator  at  the  famous  Conspiracy  Trials  in 
1912.  He  describes  the  plans  of  the  Koreans  “to 
start  a War  of  Independence  when  Japan  happened 
to  be  at  war  with  China  or  the  United  States,  with  the 
object  of  driving  the  Japanese  out  of  Korea,  and 
recovering  the  lost  national  rights.”  He  reviewed  the 

38 


actions  of  the  Conspiracy,  and  found  that  its  purpose 
was  “to  let  the  outside  world  know  that  the  Koreans 
were  not  content  to  be  subjugated  by  Japan.” 

In  the  “Taiyo”  for  July  last  appears  a very  inter- 
esting article  by  Dr.  Suehiro  on  the  question  of  the 
assimilation  of  the  Koreans,  and  which  no  doubt 
expresses  the  convictions  of  very  many  thinking  Jap- 
anese. He  says: 

“The  fundamental  question  to  be  considered  in 
this  connection  is  whether  Japan  should  adhere  to  or 
abandon  that  assimilative  policy  which  has  so  far  been 
pursued.  The  object  of  Japan’ s rule  of  Korea  consists 
in  the  assimilation  of  the  Koreans — in  other  words, 
turning  the  Koreans  into  good  subjects  of  the  Empire. 
With  this  object  in  view,  the  authorities  are  forcing 
Japanese  language  on  the  Koreans  and  administering 
to  them  nearly  the  same  education  as  the  Japanese. 
There  are  also  signs  of  resort  being  had  to  other  meas- 
ures. They  have  gone  to  the  length  of  introducing 
Shintoism  into  Korea  and  building  Shinto  temples 
there.  What  will  be  the  result  of  all  these  pains  taken 
by  the  authorities?  Is  there  any  instance  of  the  assimi- 
lative policy  having  met  with  success?  The  case  may 
have  been  different  in  ancient  times;  but  in  modern 
times,  when  the  racial  spirit  has  been  intensified  in 
peoples,  there  is  no  instance  of  the  policy  having 
succeeded.” 

and  further,  in  the  same  article,  he  goes  on  to  say: 

“The  failure  of  the  assimilative  policy  pursued  by 
the  Japanese  government  in  Korea  does  not  cast  any 
reflection  on  the  ability  of  the  authorities  concerned. 
The  fault  lies  with  the  thing  itself.  This  is  especially 
the  case  now  that  the  spirit  of  democracy  and  the  idea 
of  the  self-determination  of  peoples  is  in  so  great  vogue 
throughout  the  world;  to  try  to  assimilate  the  Koreans 
in  these  circumstances  would  be  as  futile  as  an  attempt 
at  extinguishing  a furious  fire  with  an  antiquated  hand- 
pump.  The  assimilative  policy  which  the  Government 
has  pursued  during  the  past  ten  years  has  ended  in 
complete  failure.  The  Korean  disturbances  of  March 
last  were  a most  eloquent  witness  to  the  fact.  It  is 

39 


now  evident  that  the  Korean  policy  having  Japan  for 
its  center  must  be  abandoned.” 

In  the  Japan  Advertiser,  July  1 1 th,  1919,  appears 
an  illuminating  article  on  the  whole  question  of  Japan’s 
tragically  mistaken  policy  in  Korea.  The  writer  is 
“Spectator,”  a nom  de  plume  which  is  understood  to 
belong  to  a singularly  well-informed  authority  on  mat- 
ters Oriental.  “Spectator”  writes:  , 

“Doubtless  Japan  felt  in  1910,  when  the  an- 
nouncement was  made,  ‘Korea  Annexed,’  that  she 
had  entered  upon  a path  of  glory  unexampled  by 
anything  in  her  past  history.  Here  were  80,000  square 
miles  of  land  hers  with  the  flag  of  the  Rising  Sun 
floating  over  it;  a foothold  gained  on  the  mainland, 
and  a definite  start  made  for  the  mastery  of  East  Asia. 

“Had  Korea  been  an  inanimate  object,  without 
soul,  or  sense,  or  feeling,  it  doubtless  would  have  been 
as  Japan  thought.  Her  dry,  biting  atmosphere  of 
winter  could  have  been  overcome;  her  dull  brown  hills 
could  have  been  whipped  into  line,  roads  and  water- 
ways opened  up,  and  a world  of  wonder  made  of  her 
to  blossom  like  the  rose — an  agreeable  picture  to  the 
mind  of  the  ordinary  Japanese  who  had  just  heard  that 
Korea  was  annexed. 

“But  the  Japanese  sometimes,  like  the  rest  of  us, 
think  they  know  it  all  before  they  have  tried  their 
practice  hand,  and,  when  the  day  of  reckoning  comes, 
the  showing  is  poor. 

“So  it  is  today.  The  Japanese  are  trying  to  hide 
it  even  from  themselves,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
they  have  made  a failure  in  Korea,  so  that  the  penin- 
sula is  less  theirs  today  than  when  it  was  annexed.  In 
her  efforts  of  the  last  four  months  to  compel  the 
Korean  to  love  her,  she  has  driven  even  her  friends 
away,  and  now  has  a problem  on  her  hands  that  may 
well  give  her  pause. 

“Where  lies  the  trouble?  What  is  the  matter? 
Foreigners  go  by  and  they  see  great  material  improve- 
ment in  Korea:  well-ordered  streets,  better  buildings, 
vastly  improved  sanitary  conditions,  increase  of  pros- 

40 


perity,  and  they  herald  the  news  abroad  that  Japan 
has  been  a boon  unexampled. 

“This  is  the  superficial  view  that  makes  matter 
more  than  mind,  and  body  greater  than  soul.  It  is 
the  view  of  the  man  who  has  not  yet  learned  Shakes- 
peare’s little  line,  ‘There  is  nothing  either  good  or  bad 
but  thinking  makes  it  so.’  ’’ 

Later  in  the  same  article,  the  writer  proceeds  to 
answer  his  own  question: 

“She  (Japan)  showed  her  mistaken  reading  of 
the  problem  from  the  very  first  by  her  determination 
to  assimilate.  She  actually  thought  that  she  could 
make  the  Koreans  Japanese;  wipe  their  language  off 
the  slate;  remake  their  history;  bury  their  literature  out 
of  sight,  and  cause  them  to  forget  2,000  years  of  a 
civilization  quite  equal  to  that  of  Japan.  She  forgot 
that  Koreans  were  an  older  race  than  herself,  and  that 
they  taught  her  religion  and  morals;  and  were  her 
masters  in  the  arts  and  crafts  that  make  her  famous 
today;  that  they  are  mentally  quite  her  equal,  though 
a people  of  entirely  different  ideals.  Without  a notion 
of  all  this,  she  has  set  to  heat  up  and  hammer  them 
into  freshly  made  Japanese,  and  put  bushido  patriotism 
into  their  souls  as  you  would  put  salmon  into  a tin. 
Never  was  there  a greater  misreading  of  the  other  man, 
with  utter  failure  in  its  wake.  The  Koreans  today  are 
united  in  their  opposition  to  the  whole  Japanese  propa- 
ganda, and  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  is  not 
a question  of  Christians;  peers,  literati,  farmers,  labor- 
ers are  all  in  it.” 


41 


SOWING  THE  WIND 


It  is  by  the  warmest  friends  of  Japan  that  the 
severest  arraignment  of  her  Korean  policy  is  being 
made.  It  is  those  who  desire  Japan  s best  good,  and 
who  have  no  quarrel  with  her  predominance  in  the 
Far  East,  looking  only  for  a dominance  in  ideals  of 
humanity  as  well  as  in  force  of  arms,  who  are  the  most 
urgent  in  pointing  out  that  today  in  Korea  Japan  is 
sowing  the  wind  and  the  only  possible  harvest  is  the 
whirlwind.  The  student  of  history  knows  that  no  chal- 
lenge to  a people  with  a lineage  and  a history  is  so 
dangerous  as  that  of  denationalization.  No  threat  has 
so  unifying  an  effect  on  a conquered  nation  as  that  of 
the  loss  of  its  national  identity.  At  the  openly 
announced  policy  of  assimilation,  the  Koreans  in  heart 
and  purpose  at  least,  have  sprung  to  arms  and  are 
fighting  with  their  backs  to  the  wall.  The  guerilla 
warfare,  the  spasmodic  insurrections  of  the  past  few 
months,  are  only  a presage  of  what  Korea  is  prepared 
to  do  for  the  perpetuation  of  her  national  life.  Vis- 
itors to  Korea  have  remarked  on  the  extreme  ferocity 
of  the  small  horses  which  are  used  there  for  domestic 
purposes,  and  they  learn  that  it  is  the  continued  cruelty 
and  abuse  to  which  they  have  been  subjected  for  many 
generations  which  has  developed  this  viciousness  of 
character.  One  of  the  perils  of  the  present  situation 
is  that  there  may  be  developed  in  the  Koreans  by 
reason  of  their  misfortunes  and  distresses  other  char- 
acteristics than  those  pleasing  qualities  which  have  ever 
been  their  possession  and  which  became  so  happily 
prominent  in  their  historic  “Golden  Age.”  It  is  the 
lesson  of  history  taught  by  the  story  of  Switzerland  and 
Austria  £ix  centuries  ago,  of  Britain  and  Spain  more 
than  five  centuries  since,  which  Japan  needs  to  learn 
at  this  time.  For  this  is  the  bitterness  in  Korean  hearts 


42 


today,  that  while  during  all  the  centuries  when  an  inter- 
national conscience  was  unknown,  when  the  rights  of 
small  nations  were  unrecognized,  and  when  in  conse- 
quence she  had  to  bear  or  to  withstand  constant  foreign 
invasions,  she  preserved  her  national  integrity  despite 
the  long  succession  of  suzerainties  and  of  tribute  years, 
she  came  right  to  the  edge  of  a new  and  better  world 
order,  near  enough  to  see  the  dawn  of  a new  world-day, 
only  at  last  to  have  wrested  from  her  the  priceless  pos- 
session treasured  and  defended  at  so  great  a cost 
through  the  centuries.  Is  Japan  so  obtuse  as  not  to 
see  that  despite  the  surface  materialistic  reforms  she 
has  given  to  Korea,  that  her  policy  remains  one  of 
actual  oppression  to  that  people  and  as  such  a per- 
petual menace  to  herself?  In  Kyoto,  that  wonder-city 
of  Japan,  the  Mecca  of  all  tourists,  can  be  seen  the 
Mimi  Zuka  tomb,  where  are  buried  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  Korean  noses  and  ears,  brought  back  as  war 
trophies  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of  Korea  by  Hide- 
yoshi.  Japan  has  learnt  much  and  traveled  far  in  the 
three  centuries  since  those  campaigns  of  terror,  and 
yet  she  is  still  the  historic  arch-oppressor  of  Korea. 
Not  ears  and  noses  are  her  demands,  but  the  priceless 
possessions  of  liberty  and  national  heritage. 


43 


THE  NATION’S  WEALTH 

At  the  time  when  Korea  was  a Hermit  Nation  and 
her  gates  were  closed  against  the  curious  and  the 
covetous,  she  was  regarded  as  an  El-dorado,  a dream- 
land of  untold  wealth.  The  unknown  is  always  fasci- 
nating, and  men  s conjectures  made  the  mysterious 
peninsula  a Croesus  amongst  the  lands  of  the  East. 
Today  the  gates  are  open,  and  men  who  go  in  and 
out  have  found  that  some  at  least  of  the  stories  were 
fables  and  idle  dreams.  The  roads  are  not  laid  with 
gold,  nor  are  diamonds  the  pebbles  of  the  field.  But 
viewed  rationally  and  apart  from  extravagant  imagin- 
ings, Korea  is  found  to  be  a land  of  vast  resources 
and  of  varied  kinds  of  wealth.  The  soil  is  rich  and 
of  great  productivity.  Perhaps  it  can  best  be  likened 
to  the  rich  soil  of  the  virgin  prairies  of  Saskatchewan. 
It  needs  but  moderate  attention  and  cultivation  to  pro- 
duce rich  harvests.  That  Korea  has  vast  mineral  wealth 
is  generally  recognized,  although  not  yet  have  the  full 
possibilities  of  her  mineral  production  been  tested. 
Underwood  says,  in  his  “Call  of  Korea”  (page  34), 
“Korea’s  resources  are  numerous,  her  possibilities  are 
great,  and,  for  her  size,  with  a proper  government  and 
good  advisers,  she  would  soon  be  a rich  little  country.” 
Passing  on  to  speak  of  the  other  aspect  of  Korea’s 
industrial  possibilities,  her  man-power,  Underwood  is 
hearty  in  defence  of  the  Korean  laborer.  He  says: 
“The  Korean,  placed  in  favorable  surroundings,  proves 
himself  neither  lazy,  shiftless  nor  slow.  In  Hawaii 
on  the  sugar  plantations,  the  overseers  have  been  very 
quick  to  recognize  the  value  of  the  Koreans,  asserting 
that  they  are  more  industrious,  frugal  and  sober  than 
any  laborers  they  have  ever  had.  The  superintendents 
of  the  Korean  mines,  both  English  and  Americans, 
men  who  have  had  experience  with  every  class  and 

44 


kind  of  miners  in  Australia,  Colorado,  Alaska  and 
South  Africa,  are  unanimous  in  awarding  the  palm  to 
the  Korean.”  There  is  not  wanting  evidence  that, 
granted  the  opportunity  to  work  out  her  own  national 
destiny,  and  set  free  from  the  trammels  and  shackles 
of  a foreign  yoke,  Korea  would  speedily  become  a suc- 
cessful manufacturing  country.  With  peace  in  her 
borders,  with  the  benefits  of  the  cultural  impact  of  the 
Western  world,  and  with  an  independence  of  national- 
ity under  the  protection  of  the  ‘‘League  of  Nations,” 
her  past  adeptness  in  art  and  skill  would  speedily  be 
repeated  and  surpassed.  In  the  beautiful  and  inter- 
esting Industrial  Museum  at  Seoul,  there  is  to  be  seen 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  latent  abilities  of  the  Korean 
people  in  the  production  both  of  general  utilities  and 
of  works  of  art.  Much  of  what  Japan  is  practicing  to- 
day in  the  realm  of  artistic  production  was  taught  her 
by  Korea,  and  these  arts  the  Korean  has  not  altogether 
forgotten.  By  some  it  is  urged  that  it  is  this  same 
artistic  genius  which  is  having  a revival  today  under 
Japanese  encouragement.  That  such  a statement  is  fal- 
lacious and  illusory  is  the  conviction  of  many  of  the 
best  informed  writers  in  Japan.  Of  special  interest, 
however,  is  the  point  of  view  expressed  by  an  artist, 
Mr.  M.  Yanagi,  who  contributed  a series  of  articles  on 
Korea  to  the  Yomiuri  in  May,  shortly  after  the  Inde- 
pendence outbreak.  His  is  the  standpoint  of  the 
aesthetic,  and  he  writes: 

‘‘One  day  in  Seoul,  I obtained  an  excellent  antique 
embroidery  which  appeared  to  be  the  work  of  the  Yi 
period.  It  was  clearly  influenced  by  the  art  of  the  Ming 
period  of  China.  In  color,  line  and  design  it  was  a 
work  which  sufficiently  told  of  the  beauty  of  ancient 
Korea.  Not  many  days  after  I obtained  it,  I visited 
a Korean  girl’s  high  school  and  saw  the  work  done  by 
the  students.  As  I noticed  a large  embroidery  hanging 
on  the  wall,  I was  struck  with  a strange  feeling,  for  the 
work  was  one  in  which  not  a trace  of  the  original 
Korean  beauty  could  be  noted.  It  was  altogether  a 
modern  Japanese  work — half-westernized,  tasteless,  un- 
dignified, foolish  in  design  and  vague  in  color  effects. 

45 


But  the  teacher  of  the  school  explained  to  me  that  the 
work  was  an  excellent  one,  showing  a wonderfully  well 
trained  hand.  As  I reflected  I was  deeply  conscious 
of  the  wrong  education  given  the  Koreans. 

“The  ancient  Japanese  arts  owed  much  to  Korea. 
Japan  repaid  the  gift  by  destroying  the  Korean  arts. 
If  that  is  assimilation  it  is  a dreadful  thing.  The  educa- 
tion of  the  Koreans  should  be  one  not  to  kill  their 
spirit  but  to  revive  it.” 

In  an  article  in  “Asia”  (September,  1919),  Mar- 
jorie Barstow  and  Sydney  Grenbie  discuss  the  Japanese 
reforms  and  improvements  in  Korea,  and  find  these  to 
be  very  real.  But  then  follows  the  comment:  “One 
advantage  of  being  an  imperial  power  is  that  one  does 
not  have  to  spare  the  feelings  of  the  conquered — and 
the  Japanese  don’t.  If  there  were  no  Koreans  in  Korea 
one  would  enjoy  the  spectacle  of  this  almost  boyish 
spirit  of  progress — and  give  thanks  for  hotels  and  rail- 
roads of  quality  rare  in  Asia.  One  would  smile  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  enthusiasm  of  every  Japanese  face  on 
the  street  which  seems  to  say,  ‘See  what  a fine  new  toy 
we  have  found!’  But,  alas!  there  are  always  the  Ko- 
reans— and  they  are  another  story.” 


46 


» 


THE  APPARENT  AND  THE  REAL 

The  capital  city  of  Seoul  itself  affords  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  apparent  and  the  real — the  apparent  in  the 
success  of  Japan’s  control  in  Korea,  as  published  from 
the  housetops  in  Japanese  propaganda  all  over  the 
world;  and  the  real,  the  evidence  of  a broken-hearted 
nation,  untouched  by  the  reforms  of  their  masters.  The 
apparent  is  seen  in  the  modern  public  buildings,  mostly 
of  prosperous  and  even  gay  appearance,  situated  on 
wide  and  ambitious  thoroughfares.  This  is  the  Seoul 
as  seen  by  the  distinguished  visitor  from  America  or 
Europe,  who  stays  a few  hours  at  the  luxurious  Chosen 
Hotel  and  is  “shown”  the  city  through  the  hospitality 
of  the  Japanese  authorities.  The  other  Seoul,  and  the 
real,  is  found  when  the  modern  streets  are  left,  and  a 
journey  on  foot  or  by  ricksha  is  taken  through  the 
nearby  lanes,  or  more  truly  alleys.  Scenes  of  squalor 
and  evidences  of  extreme  poverty  are  on  every  hand. 
Seoul  under  Japanese  misrule  is  a whited  sepulchre, 
and  what  is  true  of  Seoul  is  true  in  the  larger  sense  of 
Korea.  Today  there  are  two  Koreas — the  Korea  of 
the  Japanese,  with  excellent  prospects  and  an  increasing 
prosperity;  and  the  Korea  of  the  Koreans — moribund, 
dejected,  and  futureless.  P.  S.  Reinsch,  American 
Ambassador  at  Peking,  says  in  his  “Intellectual  and 
Political  Currents  of  the  Far  East”  (page  32)  : 

“it  is  unthinkable  that  a nation  should  give  up  its 
essential  customs  and  beliefs,  and  still  retain  a 
unified  and  energetic  national  life.” 

Despite  all  her  natural  resources  and  wealth  of  raw 
materials,  the  Koreans  today  (to  quote  again  from  the 
September  “Asia”)  “are  dull  and  hopeless  looking. 
Somehow  they  seem  to  have  been  left  out  of  the  prom- 
ising enterprise  which  has  invaded  their  country.” 


47 


CHRISTIANITY 

The  theory  that  Korea  during  the  centuries  has 
been  experiencing  a progressive  renaissance,  a gradual 
moving  upward  and  toward  a brighter  light,  interrupted 
though  this  has  been  at  periods  all  too  frequent,  finds 
no  better  exposition  than  in  the  sphere  of  her  religious 
history.  Three  great  religions  made  their  overtures 
to  Korea  during  the  centuries — Confucianism  with  its 
basis  of  ancestor-worship,  Shamanism,  the  religion  of 
many  demons,  and  Buddhism,  with  its  dead  hopeless- 
ness. But  none  of  these  ever  met  with  a universal 
response  or  secured  more  than  a passing  measure  of 
success.  It  was  as  though  during  the  recent  centuries 
of  turmoil  and  unrest,  Korea  was  waiting  for  the  coming 
of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  For  long  this  real  heart-worship 
of  the  people  had  been  at  the  altar  of  “an  unknown 
God,”  and  when  the  real  light  commenced  to  dawn, 
the  response  was  spontaneous  and  joyous.  The  first 
name  connected  with  the  religion  of  Christianity  is  that 
of  Father  Cespides,  who  was  sent  by  Hideyoshi  to 
Fusan  and  attached  there  to  Konishi’s  garrison.  This 
was  in  1594.  He  was  both  the  first  Christian  and  the 
first  European  to  visit  the  peninsula.  His  stay  was 
brief  and  it  is  only  in  a qualified  sense  that  he  can 
be  recorded  as  a Christian  missionary.  It  was  two 
hundred  years  before  Christianity  again  touched  Korea 
in  the  evangelistic  efforts  of  Piek-I  and  others.  Per- 
secution began  at  once,  and  from  now  on  Christianity 
had  for  a long  time  a chequered  and  troubled  career. 
The  story  of  the  gradual  planting  of  the  cross  in  Korea 
is  the  record  of  many  valiant  heroes  and  martyrs. 
Piek-I,  Tsiou,  Bruguiere,  Marubant,  Imbert,  Andrew 
Kim  and  Ferriol,  both  Europeans  and  Orientals,  have 
worthy  places  in  the  Book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Korean 
Apostles.  Describing  the  sublime  courage  of  the  Ko- 
rean Christians  during  1839,  Longford  says  (“Story  of 

48 


Korea,”  267)  : “The  victims  were  mainly  of  the  upper 
classes,  who  had  all  they  could  desire  on  earth — rank, 
power,  wealth,  luxury  and  ease.  All  these  they  gladly 
sacrificed,  and  underwent  the  imprisonment,  torture 
and  shameful  deaths,  from  which  their  rank  should 
have  legally  exempted  them.” 

After  the  first  early  triumphs  of  Christianity  came 
the  terrible  persecutions  under  the  Regent  Tai  Won 
Kun,  and  for  a time  it  seemed  as  though  the  faith  of 
Christianity  was  completely  destroyed.  But  again  and 
again  the  re-establishment  was  attempted,  and  Chris- 
tianity has  no  chapter  more  thrilling  in  its  record  of 
heroism  than  that  of  the  pioneer  martyrs  of  the  Cross 
in  Korea.  Truly  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  here  proved 
the  seed  of  the  Church.  When  at  last  with  the  storms 
of  persecution  over  for  a time,  the  Christian  religion 
became  firmly  established,  great  were  the  triumphs  of 
the  Cross.  Wonderful  revivals  took  place,  and  it 
seemed  as  though  Korea  would  speedily  become  a 
Christian  nation  and  a great  evangelistic  force  in  the 
Orient.  Then  came  1919,  with  its  political  happenings, 
its  massacres,  avowedly  only  political  but  concerning 
which  there  is  overwhelming  evidence  of  the  exhibition 
of  a strong  anti-Christian  sentiment  by  Japan.  Writing 
from  Seoul  in  May,  1919,  in  ‘‘The  Christian  Movement 
in  the  Japanese  Empire,”  Gerald  Bonwick  says: 

“The  majority  of  the  Korean  pastors  are  in  prison, 
and  missionaries  cannot  visit  the  country  churches,  as 
their  movements  excite  the  apprehension  of  the  gen- 
darmerie, and  the  Korean  Christians  become  more  than 
ever  the  objects  of  their  suspicion. 

‘‘The  position  of  the  Christian  Church  in  Korea 
at  the  present  time  is  a serious  one,  calling  for  all  the 
statesmanship  of  the  Church  Universal  as  well  as  of 
the  Government.  The  prayers  and  aid  of  the  Home 
Churches  are  needed  by  our  Korean  fellow-Christians, 
for  they  are  passing  through  fiery  trials  and  know  not 
what  fresh  troubles  a day  or  an  hour  may  bring  upon 
them.” 


49 


THE  INDEPENDENCE  MOVEMENT 

The  events  of  March  1st,  1919,  should  not  have 
startled  the  world.  The  movement  was  fourteen  years 
old.  Never  had  the  loyal  sons  and  daughters  of  Korea 
abandoned  hope  or  settled  down  in  acquiescence  while 
a foreigner  and  hereditary  foe  ruled  in  their  land. 
Scattered  they  were  in  many  lands,  but  ever  united  in 
the  lofty  purpose  and  resolve  that  some  day  they  would 
uplift  their  fair  land  from  the  slough  of  ignominy  into 
which  it  had  fallen.  So  in  Shanghai  and  Mukden, 
Harbin  and  Vladivostok,  Honolulu  and  San  Francisco, 
Philadelphia  and  London,  they  not  only  cherished  their 
dreams  but  quietly  made  their  plans.  By  a wonderful 
system  of  subterranean  correspondence,  they  evaded 
Japan’s  elaborate  espionage  system,  and  kept  in  com- 
munication with  their  comrades  in  Korea.  The  Euro- 
pean War,  with  the  statement  of  world  aims  made  by 
Woodrow  Wilson,  was  the  signal  for  action.  Address- 
ing the  Senate  in  1917,  the  President  outlined  the  pro- 
gram of  war  ideals  by  which  security  of  religion,  of 
life,  and  of  social  well  being  “should  be  guaranteed 
to  all  peoples  who  have  lived  hitherto  under  the  power 
of  governments  devoted  to  a faith  and  purpose  hostile 
to  their  own.”  The  moment  seemed  opportune  and  the 
die  was  cast.  Saturday,  March  1 st,  was  chosen  as  the 
day  for  declaring  Independence.  A network  of  organ- 
izations all  over  the  country,  the  existence  of  which 
had  with  remarkable  success  been  kept  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Japanese  gendarmes,  made  copies  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  for  circulation  in  their 
own  locality.  Processions  and  demonstrations  to  take 
place  simultaneously  were  everywhere  planned.  C.  W. 
Kendall,  in  his  little  book,  “The  Truth  About  Korea, 
gives  the  following  account  of  what  happened  in  Seoul, 
prior  to  the  nation-wide  demonstration: 

50 


“The  night  before  the  demonstration  was  to  begin, 
twenty-nine  of  the  thirty-three  signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  gathered  in  Seoul.  After  a meet- 
ing, in  which  final  arrangements  were  checked  up 
and  the  proclamation  read  aloud  for  the  first  time,  they 
all  adjourned  to  a prominent  restaurant  for  a last  dinner 
together.  It  was  one  of  the  most  singular  banquets 
ever  held  in  the  history  of  any  nation.  Each  man 
present  realized  that  as  soon  as  the  proclamation  bear- 
ing his  signature  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Japanese 
authorities  he  would  be  hunted  down  and  executed  or 
thrown  into  prison.  All  of  them  were  acquainted  with 
the  efficiency  and  methods  of  the  Japanese  spy  system. 
They  knew  that  to  attempt  to  escape  would  be  use- 
less. So  when  the  banquet  was  completed  and  the  last 
toast  spoken  they  went  to  the  telephone,  called  up  the 
Japanese  police,  told  them  what  they  had  done,  and 
that  they  were  ready  to  go  to  prison.  Then,  conse- 
crating their  lives  to  the  freedom  of  Korea,  they  calmly 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  government  authorities.  No 
resistance  was  offered  when  the  police  arrived.  They 
were  bundled  into  automobiles  and  taken  away  to 
prison.  One  of  the  signers,  having  arrived  too  late  to 
participate  in  the  meeting  and  dinner,  went  directly  to 
the  prison  and  asked  to  be  treated  the  same  as  the 
others.” 

What  happened  on  the  next  day  and  following 
days  has  now  been  told  many  times.  It  is  a story  so 
terrible  that  in  the  telling  it  one  must  always  hasten  to 
point  out  that  this  was  not  the  work  of  Japan,  but  of 
Japanese  militarism,  and  the  differentiation  is  real. 
The  sordid  and  brutal  happenings  have  been  faithfully 
recorded  by  F.  A.  McKenzie  in  his  book,  “Korea’s 
Fight  for  Freedom,”  of  which  one  extract  must  suf- 
fice (pages  252-253)  : 

“The  movement  was  a demonstration,  not  a riot. 
On  the  opening  day  and  afterwards — until  the  Japanese 
drove  some  of  the  people  to  fury — there  was  no  vio- 
lence. The  Japanese,  scattered  all  over  the  country, 
were  uninjured;  the  Japanese  shops  were  left  alone; 
when  the  police  attacked,  elders  ordered  the  people  to 

51 


submit  and  to  offer  no  resistance.  The  weak  things 
had  set  themselves  up  to  confound  the  strong. 

“At  first  the  Japanese  authorities  were  so  com- 
pletely taken  by  surprise  that  they  did  not  know  what 
to  do.  Then  the  word  was  passed  round  that  the 
movement  was  to  be  suppressed  by  relentless  severity. 
And  so  Japan  lost  her  last  chance  of  winning  the  peo- 
ple of  Korea  and  of  wiping  out  the  accentuated  ill-will 
of  the  centuries. 

“The  first  plan  of  the  Japanese  was  to  attack 
every  gathering  of  people  and  disperse  it,  and  to 
arrest  every  person  who  took  part  in  the  demonstra- 
tions or  was  supposed  to  have  a hand  in  them.  Japan- 
ese civilians  were  armed  with  clubs  and  swords  and 
given  carte  blanche  to  attack  any  Korean  they  sus- 
pected of  being  a demonstrator.  They  interpreted 
these  instructions  freely.  Firemen  were  sent  out  with 
poles  with  big  firemen’s  hooks  at  the  end.  A single 
pull  with  one  of  these  hooks  meant  death  or  horrible 
mutilation  for  any  person  they  struck. 

“The  police  used  their  swords  freely.  What  I 
mean  by  ‘freely’  can  best  be  shown  by  one  incident. 
A little  gathering  of  men  started  shouting  ‘Mansei’  in 
a street  in  Seoul.  The  police  came  after  them,  and 
they  vanished.  One  man — it  is  not  clear  whether  he 
called  ‘Mansei’  or  was  an  accidental  spectator — was 
pushed  in  the  deep  gutter  by  the  roadside  as  the  dem- 
onstrators rushed  away.  As  he  struggled  out  the  police 
came  up.  There  was  no  question  of  the  man  resisting 
or  not  resisting.  He  was  unarmed  and  alone.  They 
cut  off  his  ears,  cut  them  off  level  with  his  cheek,  they 
slit  up  his  fingers,  they  hacked  his  body,  and  then 
they  left  him  for  dead.  He  was  carried  off  by  some 
horrified  spectators,  and  died  a few  hours  later.’’ 

Another  testimony,  and  of  indisputable  authority, 
is  by  the  Rev.  A.  E.  Armstrong,  Associate  Secretary 
of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Canada, 
who  was  in  Korea  during  those  days  of  tragedy.  After 
giving  in  detail  a description  of  the  happenings  which  is 
almost  too  horrible  to  read,  he  concludes: 

“These  brutal,  bestial  police  and  soldiers  and 

52 


under-officials  are  doing  worse  than  any  Hun  ever  did 
in  France.  We  are  certain  that  women  have  been 
violated.  We  have  word  from  one  of  the  American 
pastors  that  Christian  school  girls  have  been  stripped, 
made  to  walk  on  all  fours  in  the  prison  before  Japan- 
ese police,  and  boiling  water  thrown  over  them,  from 
a broom,  which  was  dipped  in  a vessel  of  boiling  water 
on  a stove,  and  other  things  which  are  not  mention- 
able. 

“Space  will  not  permit  of  my  relating  many  other 
incidents  which  have  taken  place  in  that  unhappy  land. 
The  foregoing  are  but  samples  of  the  reign  of  terror 
now  prevailing  in  the  Korean  Peninsula.  Having  but 
recently  returned  from  Seoul,  the  Capital  of  Korea,  I 
am  in  a position  to  write  with  accuracy  of  the  nature 
of  Japanese  militarism.  It  is  absolutely  Prussian  to  the 
core.  Nay,  worse.  The  Japanese  military  system  is 
modeled  on  the  German  system,  and  when  there  is 
added  to  it  the  Oriental  fine  art  of  cruelty,  there  is  a 
resultant  combination  which  leads  many  who  know  the 
system  as  it  operates  in  Korea  to  speak  of  it  as  sur- 
passing the  Huns  and  the  Turks  in  inventive  barbarity 
and  fiendish  ferocity. 

“Our  hope  is  the  splendid  and  growing  spirit  of 
democracy,  which,  though  feeble,  and  followed  by  few 
up  to  November  1 1 last,  is  now  arising  and  opposing 
the  militarism  which  will  some  day  be  banished  from 
the  progressive  sunrise  Empire  of  Japan.  I could  name 
many  leading  Japanese  officials — civil,  not  military — 
who  deplore  the  fearful  treatment  being  administered 
to  the  Koreans,  and  who  earnestly  desire  an  enlightened 
policy  of  sympathetic  dealing  with  the  subject  people. 
Among  them  are  Judge  Watanabe  and  Ministers  Sekiya 
and  Usami,  to  mention  only  three.  Everyone  wishes 
Japan  well,  and  desires  to  see  the  Japanese  lead  the 
Orient  into  the  way  of  democracy,  liberty  and  justice, 
but  such  acts  on  a defenceless  people  as  are  being  per- 
mitted by  the  Government  must  call  forth  the  most 
vigorous  expressions  of  indignation  and  protest  from 
British  and  American  citizens,  whose  sense  of  fair  deal- 
ings is  outraged.” 


53 


Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  weeks  and  months 
of  floggings,  of  outrages,  of  terrorism  and  of  murders. 
Men,  women  and  children  whose  only  crime  was  that 
they  loved  their  country,  and  with  complete  passivity 
had  said  so,  were  hunted  like  wild  beasts  and  punished 
with  more  severity  than  civilization  extends  to  the  vilest 
of  criminals.  When  they  arose  in  passive  demonstra- 
tion, with  empty  hands  and  orderly  purpose,  they 
numbered  one  thousand  for  every  seventeen  Japanese, 
so  theirs  was  not  the  restraint  of  fear.  The  only  re- 
straint they  knew  was  the  fear  of  bringing  dishonor  and 
shame  to  the  land  for  which  they  were  willing  to  die. 
Korean  history  will  never  show  a more  glorious  page 
than  the  record  of  1919,  nor  portray  more  heroic 
actions  than  those  of  the  men  and  women  and  school 
children  who  dared  to  hold  aloft  their  national  flag 
and  sound  the  immortal  cry  of  “Mansei.”  Cheam-ni, 
Seoul,  Tyung-Ju,  Soochung  and  other  places  where 
Korean  blood  was  spilt,  will  remain  the  Valhallas  of 
their  history  to  all  Koreans,  even  as  the  thirty-three 
heroes  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
will  be  numbered  amongst  the  immortals  of  the  nation. 


54 


CAIN’S  QUESTION 

How  little  the  Western  world  of  1910  had  grasped 
the  ideal  of  the  rights  of  small  nations,  and  the  vision 
of  a universal  fraternity  amongst  the  peoples  of  the 
earth,  is  evidenced  by  the  quiescent  spirit  in  which  the 
world  contemplated  the  ruthless  and  forcible  annexa- 
tion of  helpless  Korea.  Not  yet  had  the  nobler  and 
more  worthy  doctrines  of  a common  humanity  been 
enunciated  by  Woodrow  Wilson  and  given  documen- 
tary substance  in  the  League  of  Nations.  Apparently 
unmoved  and  unconcerned,  the  world  watched  the 
panorama  of  events  and  made  little  real  protest.  For 
what,  after  all,  had  happened?  Only  that  a weaker 
and  relatively  unimportant  member  of  the  world’ s 
family  of  nations  had  been  given  the  death-blow.  So 
Christianity  and  civilization,  with  a shrug  of  the  shoul- 
ders, only  repeats  the  first  question  that  man  ever  asked 
his  Maker,  “Am  I my  brother’s  keeper?’*  Longford 
(“Story  of  Korea,’’  381)  expresses  sympathy  “for 
the  downfall  of  a nation  that  claims  to  have  had 
an  historical  existence  from  the  days  when  Babylon 
was  still  in  all  its  glory  and  grandeur,  for  the  subjection 
of  a people  who,  whatever  have  been  the  faults  of 
their  government  and  the  reaction  of  those  faults  on 
themselves,  possess  many  attractive  qualities,  who  are 
kind,  hospitable,  gentle,  generous  and  good  tempered, 
dignified  in  their  outward  demeanor  and  utterly  un- 
worldly; to  an  alien  nation  of  different  race,  language 
and  traditions,  that  has  been  their  relentless  enemy 
from  time  immemorial,  at  whose  hands  they  have  on 
many  occasions  experienced  all  the  miseries  of  War, 
and  in  more  recent  days,  in  the  time  of  peace,  tyranny 
and  spoliation,  the  memory  of  which  can  only  be 
erased  by  decades,  perhaps  even  centuries  of  good 
and  merciful  government.’* 

The  words  of  President  Wilson,  though  not  spoken 
in  reference  to  Korea,  contain  a truth  which  cannot  be 

55 


ignored  in  reviewing  the  situation  in  the  unhappy  coun- 
try today.  He  says: 

“The  world  can  only  be  at  peace  if  its  life  is 
stable  and  there  can  be  no  stability  where  the  will  is 
in  rebellion  where  there  is  not  tranquillity  of  spirit  and 
a sense  of  justice  of  freedom  and  of  right.** 

These  pregnant  words  have  an  illustration  in  an 
event  of  Korean  history  which  is  referred  to  by  Vis- 
counts Kim  Yoon  Sik  and  Yi  Yong  Chik  in  a “Petition” 
addressed  by  them  to  Japan  at  the  time  of  the  Inde- 
pendence Movement  in  March,  1919.  The  aged  Ko- 
rean statesmen  say: 

“A  way  of  doing  things  is  good  only  as  it  accords 
with  the  times  and  a Government  succeeds  only  when 
it  makes  its  people  happy.  If  the  Way  is  not  in  keeping 
with  the  age  it  is  not  a perfect  Way;  and  if  a Govern- 
ment fails  to  make  its  people  happy  it  is  not  a good 
Government. 

“It  is  now  ten  years  since  Korea  was  annexed  to 
Japan,  and  though  there  has  resulted  from  it  no  little 
profit  to  the  people  with  the  clearing  away  of  abuses, 
still  it  cannot  be  said  to  have  made  the  people  happy. 

“Today  when  the  call  for  independence  is  given 
in  the  street,  ten  thousand  voices  answer  in  response. 
In  ten  days  and  less,  the  whole  nation  vibrates  to  its 
echo,  and  even  the  women  and  children  vie  with  each 
place  with  no  fear  of  death  in  the  heart.  What  is  the 
reason  for  such  a state  of  things  as  this?  Our  view 
is  that,  having  borne  with  pain  and  stifled  resentment 
to  the  point  of  bursting,  and  being  unable  to  repress 
it  further,  at  last  they  have  found  expression,  and, 
like  the  overflowing  of  the  Whang-ho  river,  the  waves 
have  broken  all  bounds,  and  once  having  broken  away, 
its  power  will  brook  no  return.  We  call  this  an  expres- 
sion of  the  people,  but  is  it  not  rather  the  mind  of 
God  Himself? 

“The  people,  now  roused  to  action,  desire  that 
restored  to  them  that  they  once  possessed,  in  order  that 
the  shame  of  their  slavery  be  removed.  They  have 
nothing  but  bare  hands,  and  a tongue  to  speak  the 

56 


resentment  they  feel.  You  can  tell  by  this  that  no 
wicked  motives  underlie  their  thoughts. 

“A  man  s life  is  something  to  be  dealt  with  as  the 
grass  that  grows.  In  ancient  times,  Mencius  said  to 
King  Soon  of  Cho  Kingdom,  ‘If  by  taking  possession 
of  the  state,  you  can  make  the  people  of  Yun  happy, 
take  possession,  but  if  taking  possession  will  render 
them  miserable,  forbear  to  do  it.’  Though  Mencius 
thus  spoke,  the  king  paid  no  attention  and,  as  a result, 
came  to  the  place  where  he  finally  said  he  was  greatly 
ashamed.  This  is  indeed  a mirror  from  history,  worthy 
to  be  looked  into.  Even  the  sage  cannot  run  counter 
to  the  times  in  which  he  lives.  We  read  the  mind  of 
God  in  the  attitude  of  the  people.  If  a people  are  not 
made  happy,  history  tells  us  that  there  is  no  way  by 
which  their  land  can  be  held  in  possession. 

“We,  your  servants,  have  come  in  these  times  of 
danger  and  difficulty.  Old  and  shameless  are  we,  for 
when  our  country  was  annexed,  we  accepted  the  rank 
of  nobility,  held  office  and  lived  in  disgrace,  till  seeing 
these  innocent  people  of  ours  in  the  fire  and  water, 
are  unable  to  endure  the  sight  longer.  Thus  we,  too,  in 
the  privacy  of  our  room,  have  shouted  for  independ- 
ence just  like  the  others. 

“Fearing  not  presumption  on  our  parts,  we  speak 
forth  our  hearts,  in  the  hope  that  your  Excellency  will 
be  in  accord  herewith,  and  let  his  Imperial  Majesty 
know,  so  that  the  cabinet  may  consider  it,  and  set  right 
the  cause,  not  by  mere  soft  words,  not  by  force,  but 
in  accord  with  the  opportunity  that  Heaven  above 
grants,  and  the  wishes  of  the  people  speak.  Thus 
may  Japan  give  independence  to  Korea,  and  let  her 
justice  be  known  to  the  whole  world,  including  those 
nations  with  whom  she  has  treaty  relations.  Undoubt- 
edly all  will  grant  their  approval  and,  like  the  eclipsed 
sun  and  moon,  Japan  will  once  again  resume  the  light 
and  splendor  of  her  way.  Who  will  not  look  with 
praise  and  commendation  on  this  act  of  yours? 

“We,  your  servants,  behind  closed  doors,  ill  and 
indisposed,  and  knowing  not  the  mind  of  the  world, 
offer  our  poor  woodmen’s  counsel  to  the  state.  If 

57 


you  accede  to  it,  countless  numbers  of  people  will  be 
made  happy,  but  if  you  refuse,  we  two  alone  will  suffer. 
We  have  reached  the  course  of  life,  and  so  we  offer 
ourselves  a sacrifice  for  our  people.  Though  we  die 
for  it.  we  have  no  complaints  to  make.  In  our  sick 
chamber,  with  age  upon  us,  we  know  how  to  speak  per- 
suasively. We  pray  your  Excellency  to  kindly  give 
this  your  consideration.  In  a word,  this  is  what  our 
hearts  would  say.” 

To  Christian  civilization  today  comes  the  bitter 
cry  of  Korea’s  need,  while  to  those  nations  the  measure 
of  whose  responsibility  is  the  measure  of  the  light  they 
possess,  comes  the  word  of  the  God  of  Nations,  ‘‘Thy 
brother’s  blood  crieth  unto  me  from  the  ground.” 


58 


THE  ROD 

In  his  little  book  on  Korea,  George  Heber  Jones 
tells  the  story  of  how,  in  his  old  age,  a former  prime 
minister  of  Korea,  when  retiring  from  public  life,  trav- 
elled back  to  his  native  town  and  visited  the  school 
of  his  boyhood.  Taking  the  switch,  the  symbol  of 
discipline,  and  setting  it  against  the  wall,  he  made  lowly 
obeisance  to  it  with  the  remark,  “The  rod  made  me  a 
man!”  What  was  needed  to  put  the  iron  into  the 
Korean  Constitution  after  the  long  period  of  indulgence 
and  lassitude — the  floggings  and  tortures  and  murders 
under  the  regime  of  the  Japanese  gendarme  in  1919 
have  amply  supplied.  If  Korea  was  not  a nation  be- 
fore, the  rod  has  made  her  one — united,  determined 
and  resolute. 

There  is  another  reason.  The  spectacular  awak- 
ening of  Japan  and  China  during  the  last  few  decades 
has  riveted  the  attention  of  the  world,  and  done  much 
to  develop  international  consciousness  and  world- 
co-operation  for  the  well-being  of  humanity.  Fifty 
years  ago  Japan  was  apparently  hermetically  sealed 
against  the  Western  world.  Comparatively  few  had 
entered  her  domains  or  had  explored  her  wonders, 
but  those  who  had,  pronounced  a common  verdict  that 
illiteracy  was  the  rule,  ravaging  diseases  were  well-nigh 
unchecked,  superstitions  abounded,  and  for  the  twenty- 
five  millions  of  people  the  daybreak  of  civilization  had 
not  come.  China  followed  Japan  very  closely  along 
the  road  of  an  awakened  consciousness;  in  fact,  viewed 
from  some  standpoints,  the  awakening  giants  marched 
shoulder  to  shoulder  out  to  the  dawn. 

Bibliography  is  prodigal  in  its  descriptions  of  the 
rapid  and  glad  emancipation  of  China  and  Japan  from 
the  thraldom  of  social  darkness  and  superstition.  But 
of  late  the  theory  has  been  finding  fuller  expression, 
that  it  was  not  any  one  country  or  two  to  which  the 
light  came,  but  that  the  Orient  as  a whole,  with  a 

59 


greater  degree  of  simultaneity  than  has  sometimes  been 
believed,  had  its  renaissance  and  saw  the  dawn. 
Coupled  with  this  is  the  growing  recognition  that  not 
necessarily  in  the  superficial  of  western  life,  domestic 
habits,  styles  of  dress,  and  social  etiquette,  was  the 
advance  the  most  real  and  most  to  be  welcomed,  but 
in  the  deeper  sentiments  and  qualities  and  sympathies 
of  men.  Viewed  from  this  angle,  may  it  not  be  claimed 
that  in  all  the  ways  that  most  matter,  Korea  has  seen 
the  light  and  entered  the  new  world  order,  as  truly 
as  has  China,  and  China  as  truly  as  has  Japan? 


60 


THE  NEW  KOREA 

Only  thus  can  be  explained  the  dignity  and  self- 
control  which  even  the  simple  Korean  peasants  dis- 
played during  the  weeks  when,  under  the  Hasegawa 
regime,  the  brutal  Japanese  gendarmes  ran  amuck. 
Only  thus  can  be  explained  the  genius  and  statesman- 
ship and  organizing  ability  (equalling  that  of  Taijo 
six  centuries  before)  with  which  the  March  demon- 
stration was  secretly  planned  and  successfully  carried 
out.  Only  thus  can  be  explained  the  lofty  idealism 
which  has  so  consistently  and  steadily  pursued  its  aims 
during  the  past  decade,  despite  “the  dungeon,  fire  and 
sword.”  Only  thus  can  be  explained  the  unwavering 
faith  which,  though  it  cannot  trace  the  path,  never 
doubts  the  ultimate  recovery  of  the  lost  nationhood. 
Only  thus  can  be  explained  the  consciousness  of  a 
world  brotherhood  that  has  come  to  Korea,  and  a 
belief  in  the  bona  fides  of  the  friendships  of  Western 
nations,  which  causes  her  today  to  stretch  out  pleading 
hands,  begging  for  at  least  sympathy  and  comradeship. 
It  is  a new  Korea,  erect  and  chastened,  redolent  of  the 
dawn,  which  appeals  to  the  Occidental  world  of  to- 
day. A pamphlet  issued  by  the  “Organizing  Com- 
mittee of  the  Independence  Movement”  closes  with  an 
appeal  and  a prayer: 

“This  is  the  time  for  our  escape  from  the  hands 
of  our  Japanese  oppressors.  We  earnestly  appeal  to 
the  nations  of  the  earth  to  set  a limit  to  our  pitiful  con- 
dition and  to  obtain  for  us  the  common  rights  of 
humanity.  Our  confidence  and  our  prayers  go  out  to 
God.  Amen.” 

This  is  not  the  spirit  of  Tai  Won  Kun  or  the  lan- 
guage of  a Hermit  Nation. 

In  the  mountains  of  Korea  in  years  past  were 
numbers  of  large  and  savage  tigers,  and  the  men  of 
Korea  became  renowned  as  tiger-hunters.  The  Ko- 

61 


reans  scorned  to  go  other  than  alone,  and  would  go 
forth  and  meet  single-handed  a ferocious  beast.  Re- 
cent events  have  shown  that  the  Korean  is  no  less 
brave  than  before,  but  he  has  added  to  his  courage 
other  virtues  which  he  lacked  in  those  tiger-hunting 
days. 


62 


BUSHIDO 

In  a “Foreword”  to  his  recent  brochure,  “The 
Truth  About  Korea,”  C.  W.  Kendall  expresses  a sen- 
timent and  makes  a distinction,  which  have  also  been 
expressed  of  late  by  F.  A.  McKenzie  and  other  writers: 
“In  presenting  this  volume,  it  is  not  my  purpose 
to  create  a feeling  of  hostility  against  the  Japanese 
people.  I cannot  believe  that  the  kindly  men  and 
women  of  Japan  approve  the  unnamable  cruelties 
taking  place  today  in  Korea.  Where  I have  used  the 
term  Japan  or  Japanese  in  connection  with  the  Korean 
situation,  I refer  not  to  the  Japanese  people — the  wives 
and  daughters,  husbands  and  sons  of  the  Flowery 
Kingdom — but  to  that  spirit  of  Military  Autocracy 
which  knows  no  conscience,  no  human  regard  nor  tol- 
erance, and  crushes  all  who  oppose  it  beneath  the 
insatiable  wrath  of  its  iron  heel.” 

The  distinction  is  between  Bushido,  the  innate 
qualities  of  justice,  truth,  honor,  self-control,  courage 
and  benevolence  indigenous  in  the  elite  of  Japan 
(whether  the  elite  toil  in  the  rice  field  or  occupy  a 
throne),  and  that  which  is  the  very  antithesis  of  the 
code  of  the  Samurai,  Japan’s  modern  military  despot- 
ism. which  has  found  so  lucid  an  expression  in  the 
recent  horrors  perpetrated  by  Hasegawa’s  gendarmes. 
Dr.  Inazo  Nitobe,  in  his  fascinating  volume  on  “Bush- 
ido, The  Soul  of  Japan,”  makes  many  claims,  which, 
in  the  light  of  recent  Korean  happenings,  can  only  be 
admitted  as  true  today  if  such  a dividing  line  is  al- 
lowed, as  will  differentiate  between  what  the  heart  of 
Japan  really  is,  and  what  is  historically  done  by  an 
element  which,  though  in  control,  is  alien  to  the  soul 
of  the  nation.  To  take  one  illustration  only  from  the 
many  captivating  stories  he  relates: 

“Lovers  of  Japanese  art  must  be  familiar  with 
the  representation  of  a priest  riding  backwards  on  a 

63 


cow.  The  rider  was  once  a warrior  who  in  his  day 
made  his  name  a by-word  of  terror.  In  that  terrible 
battle  of  Sumano-ura  (1184  A.  D.),  which  was  one 
of  the  most  decisive  in  our  history,  he  overtook  an 
enemy  and  in  single  combat  had  him  in  the  clutch 
of  his  gigantic  arms.  Now  the  etiquette  of  war  re- 
quired that  on  such  occasions  no  blood  should  be  spilt, 
unless  the  weaker  party  proved  to  be  a man  of  rank 
or  ability  equal  to  that  of  the  stronger.  The  grim 
combatant  would  have  the  name  of  the  man  under 
him;  but,  he  refusing  to  make  it  known,  his  helmet 
was  ruthlessly  torn  off,  when  the  sight  of  a juvenile 
face,  fair  and  beardless,  made  the  astonished  knight 
relax  his  hold.  Helping  the  youth  to  his  feet,  in 
paternal  tones  he  bade  the  stripling  go:  ‘Off,  young 
prince,  to  thy  mother’s  side!  The  sword  of  Kuma- 
gaye  shall  never  be  tarnished  by  a drop  of  thy  blood. 
Haste  and  flee  o’er  yon  pass  before  thy  enemies  come 
in  sight!’  The  young  warrior  refused  to  go  and 
begged  Kumagaye,  for  the  honor  of  both,  to  despatch 
him  on  the  spot.  Above  the  hoary  head  of  the  veteran 
gleams  the  cold  blade,  which  many  a time  before  has 
sundered  the  chords  of  life,  but  his  stout  heart  quails; 
there  flashes  athwart  his  mental  eye  the  vision  of  his 
own  boy,  who  this  self-same  day  marched  to  the  sound 
of  bugle  to  try  his  maiden  arms;  the  strong  hand  of 
the  warrior  quivers;  again  he  begs  his  victim  to  flee 
for  his  life.  Finding  all  his  entreaties  vain  and  hearing 
the  approaching  steps  of  his  comrades,  he  exclaims: 
‘If  thou  art  overtaken,  thou  mayest  fall  at  a more 
ignoble  hand  than  mine.  O,  thou  Infinite,  receive  his 
soul!’  In  an  instant  the  sword  flashes  in  the  air,  and 
when  it  falls  it  is  red  with  adolescent  blood.  When 
the  war  is  ended,  we  find  our  soldier  returning  in  tri- 
umph, but  little  cares  he  now  for  honor  or  fame;  he 
renounces  his  warlike  career,  shaves  his  head,  dons  a 
priestly  garb,  devotes  the  rest  of  his  days  to  holy  pil- 
grimages, never  turning  his  back  to  the  West,  where 
lies  the  Paradise  whence  salvation  comes  and  whither 
the  sun  hastes  daily  for  his  rest.” 

Korea,  a nation  of  sorrows,  calls  today  by  the 

64 


PARK,  SEOUL  ONE  OF  THE  CITY  GATES 


direfulness  of  her  need,  for  the  display  of  the  old 
Samurai  qualities  of  justice  and  benevolence,  while  the 
world  still  waits  for  the  verdict  of  Japan.  The  spirit 
of  Hideyoshi  and  Hasegawa,  or  the  spirit  of  Chung 
Jong  and  Kumagaye — which  shall  it  be?  It  is  the 
people  of  Japan  who  must  give  the  momentous  answer, 
r 


X 


65 


THE  WHITE  BUDDHA 

In  the  summer  of  1919  the  present  writer  was  in 
the  city  of  Seoul,  and  amongst  many  places  of  interest 
visited  the  famous  White  Buddha,  a few  miles  from 
the  city.  Passing  out  from  the  city  proper  by  the 
Great  West  Gate  along  the  Dokuritsumon  Dori,  and 
passing  the  Independence  Gate,  erected  two  hundred 
years  ago  to  receive  the  Imperial  messengers  from  the 
suzerain  power  of  China,  the  long  hill  climb  brought 
us  to  the  Peking  Pass.  Here  a mental  picture  pre- 
sented itself  of  the  passing  for  centuries  to  and  from 
the  capital  of  China  of  the  emissaries  of  Korea.  Leav- 
ing the  main  road  to  the  right  and  taking  the  narrow 
paths  across  the  tiny  rice  fields,  we  came  in  sight  of 
the  White  Buddha.  To  our  right  was  a stone  quarry, 
and  the  process  of  blasting  was  being  employed  to  split 
the  rocks  and  secure  the  necessary  material  for  the 
good  roads  throughout  the  peninsula,  on  which  Japan 
has  set  her  heart.  To  our  left,  and  at  the  foot  of  the 
rocks,  was  a wide  but  shallow  river,  so  shallow  that 
pieces  of  rock  which  would  serve  as  stepping  stones, 
were  everywhere  visible.  Directly  across  the  river  we 
saw  th~  quaint  object  of  our  search.  On  a big  rock, 
with  a flat  wall  surface  jutting  out  into  the  water,  had 
been  carved  the  head  and  shoulders  of  Buddha,  a 
representation  so  familiar  to  every  traveller  in  the 
Orient.  Having  been  carved  on  the  gray  rough  rock, 
the  carving  had  been  painted  over  with  plain  white, 
giving  it  the  name  by  which  it  is  known,  and  making 
it  stand  out  with  an  almost  startling  distinctness  from 
the  background  setting  of  rocks  and  trees.  But  from 
where  we  stood  and  studied  the  figure  it  seemed  to 
be  incomplete — suggesting  that  not  all  of  the  artist’s 
original  work  was  visible  to  us.  So  it  proved  on  closer 
scrutiny.  We  climbed  into  our  rickshas,  and  the 
coolies,  wading  into  the  water,  pulled  us  across,  halting 

66 


on  a bank  of  sand  and  stones,  immediately  in  front  of 
the  Diabutsu.  Then  we  saw  the  reason  for  the  ap- 
parent direct  descent  of  the  figure  into  the  ground.  It 
was  not  that  the  rock  had  sunk,  nor  that  the  sculptor 
had  worked  below  the  ground  level.  What  had  hap- 
pened was  that  the  deposits  of  sand  and  stones  had 
been  washed  down  by  the  shallow  but  fast-flowing 
stream,  and  that  the  great  figure  of  Buddha  was  being 
gradually  buried  under  the  accumulation. 

The  story  is  a parable.  As  we  stood  before  the 
white-faced  image  and  saw  the  evidence  of  an  im- 
pending fate,  the  rock-carved  Buddha  stood  to  our 
imagination  not  for  decadent  Buddhism  alone,  but  for 
all  the  forces  of  superstition  and  corruption,  which  in 
the  past  had  brought  Korea  so  close  to  the  precipice  of 
disintegration  and  vitiation.  Now  (and  with  far  greater 
force  than  that  of  the  water  at  our  feet)  the  irresistible 
tide  of  enlightenment  and  a world  consciousness,  belief 
in  one  common  Fatherhood,  and  one  universal  Brother- 
hood, is  sweeping  down  from  the  heights  of  God,  and 
every  element  of  reaction,  every  force  of  perversion,  is 
doomed  by  the  incoming  tide.  That  day  may  be  distant 
yet,  as  man  with  his  tiny  foot-rule  measures  distance. 
The  stream  must  carry  down  mountains  of  rubble  yet, 
before  the  idols  and  the  skeletons  and  the  ghosts  of 
many  unhappy  centuries  are  completely  laid  low  and 
forgotten.  But  today  the  flood  gates  are  open  and  no 
man-built  dams  can  stop  the  tide.  No  dam  of  annexa- 
tion can  permanently  resist  the  flood  tides  of  an  awak- 
ened nationhood.  Korea’s  renaissance  has  come! 
And  soon,  with  the  tribulations  of  the  present  day  all 
passed,  Korea  will  again  be  Chosen,  “The  Land  of  the 
Morning  Calm.”  Then,  possessed  of  a restored  but 
happier  nationhood,  dignified  and  holy,  she  will  march 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Japan,  with  China,  and  with 
the  nations  of  the  Western  world,  out  into  the  sunlight 
of  a new  world  era,  which  will  be  the  Kingdom  of 
God. 


67 


APPENDIX 


Protocol  Concluded  Between  Japan  and  Korea  on  February  23, 
1904,  Regarding  the  Situation  at  Korea. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Japan,  and 
Major-General  Ye-tchi-yong,  Minister  of  State  for  foreign 
affairs  ad  interim  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Korea,  being 
respectively  duly  empowered  for  the  purpose,  have  agreed 
upon  the  following  Articles: 

Article  1.  For  the  purpose  of  maintaining  a permanent 
and  solid  friendship  between  Japan  and  Korea,  and  firmly 
establishing  peace  in  the  Far  East,  the  Imperial  Government  of 
Korea  shall  place  full  confidence  in  the  Imperial  Government 
of  Japan  and  adopt  the  advice  of  the  latter  in  regard  to 
improvements  in  administration. 

Article  II.  The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  shall  in  a 
spirit  of  firm  friendship,  ensure  the  safety  and  repose  of  the 
Imperial  House  of  Japan. 

Article  III.  The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  definitely 
guarantee  the  independence  and  territorial  integrity  of  the 
Korean  Empire. 

Article  IV.  In  case  the  welfare  of  the  Imperial  House  of 
Korea  or  the  territorial  integrity  of  Korea  is  endangered  by 
aggression  of  a third  Power  or  by  internal  disturbance,  the 
Imperial  Government  of  Japan  shall  immediately  take  such 
necessary  measures  as  the  circumstances  require,  and  in  such 
cases  the  Imperial  Government  of  Korea  shall  give  full  facili- 
ties to  promote  the  action  of  the  Imperial  Japanese  Govern- 
ment. 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  may,  for  the  attain- 
ment of  the  above-mentioned  objects,  occupy,  when  the  cir- 
cumstances require  it,  such  places  as  may  be  necessary  from 
strategical  points  of  view. 

Article  V.  The  Government  of  the  two  countries  shall  not 
in  future,  without  mutual  consent,  conclude  with  a third  Power 
such  an  arrangement  as  may  be  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
the  present  Protocol. 

Article  VI.  Details  in  connection  with  the  present  Protocol 
shall  be  arranged  as  the  circumstances  may  require,  between 

68 


the  Representative  of  Japan  and  the  Minister  of  State  for  For- 
eign Affairs  of  Korea. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  (Seal) 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary. 
The  23rd  day  of  the  2nd  month  of  the  fifth  year  of  Meiji. 

Major-General  Ye  Tchi-young,  (Seal) 
Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  ad  interim. 
The  23rd  day  of  the  2nd  month  of  the  8th  year  of 
Kwang-mu. 


Agreement  Between  Japan  and  Korea,  Signed  August  22,  1904, 
Relating  to  the  Financial  and  Diplomatic  Advisers. 

Article  1.  The  Korean  Government  shall  engage  a financial 
adviser  to  the  Korean  Government  a Japanese  subject  com- 
mended by  the  Japanese  Government,  and  all  matters  concern- 
ing finances  shall  be  dealt  with  after  his  counsel  has  been 
taken. 

Article  II.  The  Korean  Government  shall  engage  a diplo- 
matic adviser  to  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  a for- 
eigner commended  by  the  Japanese  Government,  and  all 
important  matters  concerning  foreign  relations  shall  be  dealt 
with  after  his  counsel  has  been  taken. 

Article  III.  The  Korean  Government  shall  previously  con- 
sult the  Japanese  Government  in  concluding  treaties  and  con- 
ventions with  foreign  powers,  and  in  dealing  with  other  impor- 
tant diplomatic  affairs,  such  as  the  grant  of  concessions  to  or 
contracts  with  foreigners. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  (Seal) 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary. 

The  22nd  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the  37th  year  of  Meiji. 

Yun  Chi- ho  (Seal) 

Acting  Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

The  22nd  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the  8th  year  of 
Kwang-mu. 


Agreement  Between  Japan  and  Korea,  Signed  April  1,  1905, 
Regarding  Communications  Services. 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  and  Korea  finding  it 
expedient  from  the  standpoint  of  the  administration  and 
finances,  of  Korea,  to  rearrange  the  system  of  communications 
in  that  country,  and,  by  amalgamating  it  with  that  of  Japan, 
to  unite  the  two  systems  into  one  common  to  the  two  countries, 
and  having  seen  the  necessity,  with  that  object  in  view,  of 
transferring  the  post,  telegraph  and  telephone  services  of 
Korea  to  the  Japanese  Government,  Hayashi  Gonsuke,  Envoy 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  Japan,  and  I. 
Ha-Yong,  Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Korea,  each 
invested  with  proper  authority,  have  agreed  upon  and  con- 
cluded the  following  articles: 


69 


Article  I.  The  Imperial  Government  of  Korea  shall  trans- 
fer  and  assign  the  control  and  administration  of  the  post  tele- 
graph and  telephone  services  in  Korea  (except  the  telephone 
service  exclusively  pertaining  to  the  Department  of  the  Imperial 
Household)  to  the  Imperial  Japanese  Government. 

Article  II.  The  land,  buildings,  furnitures,  instruments, 
machines  and  all  other  appliances  connected  with  the  system 
of  communications  already  established  by  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment of  Korea,  shall  by  virtue  of  the  present  Agreement, 
be  transferred  to  the  control  of  the  Imperial  Japanese  Govern- 
ment. 

The  authorities  of  the  two  countries  acting  together  shall 
make  an  inventory  of  the  land,  buildings,  and  all  other 
requisites  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  which  inven- 
tory shall  serve  as  evidence  in  the  future. 

Article  III.  When  it  is  deemed  necessary  by  the  Japanese 
Government  to  extend  the  communications  system  in  Korea, 
they  may  appropriate  land  and  buildings  belonging  to  the  State, 
or  to  private  persons;  the  former  without  compensation  and 
the  latter  with  proper  indemnification. 

Article  IV.  In  respect  of  the  control  of  the  communica- 
tions service  and  the  custody  of  the  properties  in  connection 
therewith,  the  Japanese  Government  assume  on  their  own 
account,  the  responsibility  of  good  administration. 

The  expense  required  in  the  extension  of  the  communica- 
tions service  shall  be  borne  by  the  Imperial  Government  of 
Japan. 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  shall  officially  notify 
the  Imperial  Government  of  Korea  of  the  financial  condition  of 
the  system  of  communications  under  their  control. 

Article  V.  All  appliances  and  materials  which  are  deemed 
necessary  by  the  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  for  the  control 
or  the  extension  of  the  system  of  communications  shall  be 
exempt  from  all  duties  and  imposts. 

Article  VI.  The  Imperial  Government  of  Korea  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  maintain  the  present  Board  of  Communications  so 
far  as  such  retention  does  not  interfere  with  the  control  and 
extension  of  the  service  by  the  Japanese  Government. 

The  Japanese  Government,  in  controlling  and  extending 
the  services,  shall  engage  as  many  Korean  officials  and 
employees  as  possible. 

Article  VII.  In  respect  of  the  arrangement  formerly 
entered  into  by  the  Korean  Government  with  the  governments 
of  foreign  Powers,  concerning  the  post,  telegraph  or  telephone 
services,  the  Japanese  Government  shall  in  behalf  of  Korea, 
exercise  the  rights  and  perform  the  obligations  pertaining 
thereto. 

Should  there  arise  in  the  future  any  necessity  for  conclud- 
ing any  new  convention  between  the  Government  of  Korea  and 
the  governments  of  foreign  Powers  concerning  the  communi- 
cations services,  the  Japanese  Government  shall  assume  the 

70 


responsibility  of  concluding  such  convention  in  behalf  of  the 
Korean  Government. 

Article  VIII.  The  various  conventions  and  agreements 
respecting  the  communications  service  hitherto  existing 
between  the  Governments  of  Japan  and  Korea  are  mutually 
abolished  or  modified  by  the  present  agreement. 

Article  IX.  When  in  the  future  as  a result  of  the  general 
development  of  the  communications  service  in  Korea,  there  is 
some  adequate  profit  over  and  above  expenditures  defrayed  by 
the  Japanese  Government  for  the  control  and  maintenance  of 
the  old  services  and  for  their  extensions  and  improvements,  the 
Japanese  Government  shall  deliver  to  the  Korean  Government 
a suitable  percentage  of  such  profit. 

Article  X.  When  in  the  future  an  ample  surplus  exists  in 
the  finances  of  the  Korean  Government  the  control  of  their 
communications  service  may  be  returned  to  the  Government  of 
Korea,  in  the  sequel  of  consultation  between  the  Governments. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  (Seal) 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary. 

The  1 st  day  of  the  4th  month  of  the  38th  year  of  Meiji. 

I.  Ha  -yeng,  (Seal) 
Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

The  1 st  day  of  the  4th  month  of  the  9th  year  of 
Kwang-mu. 


Agreement  Respecting  the  Coast  Trade  of  Korea. 

The  Imperial  Governments  of  Japan  ad  Korea,  deeming  it 
necessary,  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  trade  and  pro- 
moting the  development  of  the  resources  of  Korea,  to  allow 
navigation  by  Japanese  vessels  along  the  coasts  and  in  the 
inland  waters  of  Korea,  Hayashi  Gonsuke,  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  Japan,  and  I.  Ha-yeng,  Minister 
of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Korea,  duly  authorized  by  their 
respective  governments  for  the  purpose,  have  agreed  upon  tha 
following  articles: 

Article  I.  Japanese  vessels  shall  be  at  liberty  to  navigate 
along  the  coasts,  and  in  the  inland  waters  of  Korea,  for  the 
purpose  of  trade  in  accordance  with  the  stipulations  of  the 
present  agreement,  which,  however,  shall  not  be  applicable 
to  navigation  between  the  open  ports. 

Article  II.  Licenses  shall  be  obtained  for  all  Japanese  ves- 
sels to  be  employed  in  navigation  of  the  coasts  and  inland 
waters,  upon  reporting  through  the  Japanese  Consular  Officers 
to  the  Korean  Customs  the  names  and  residences  of  the  owners, 
the  names,  type  and  carrying  capacity  of  the  vessels,  as  well 
as  the  limits  within  which  such  vessels  are  to  navigate. 

Licenses  shall  be  available  for  one  year  from  the  date  of 
their  issue. 


71 


Article  III.  Upon  receipt  of  a license,  fees  shall  be  paid  to 
the  Korean  Customs  according  to  the  following  rates: 


For  a vessel  of  foreign  type  below  100  tons 15.00 

For  a vessel  of  Japanese  type 15.00 

For  a vessel  of  foreign  type  above  100  and  below  500 

tons  50.00 

For  a vessel  of  foreign  type  above  500  and  below  1,000 

tons  1 00.00 

For  a vessel  of  foreign  type  above  1,000  tons 150.00 


Article  IV.  Japanese  vessels  may  freely  navigate  within 
the  limits  specified,  but  shall  not  proceed  to  any  place  not  in 
Korean  territory,  except  in  case  of  stress  of  weather  or  other 
emergency,  or  in  case  special  permission  has  been  obtained 
from  the  Korean  Customs. 

Article  V.  The  licenses  shall  be  carried  on  board  the  ves- 
sels during  their  voyages,  and  shall  be  shown  whenever 
requested  by  the  Korean  Customs  or  by  local  officials  of  Korea 
or  by  chiefs  of  villages  duly  authorized  by  such  local  official. 

Article  VI.  Japanese  shipowners  shall  have  the  liberty  to 
lease  land  for  the  purpose  of  building  warehouses  at  the  places 
where  their  vessels  call. 

Such  owners  may  also  construct  piers  or  wharves  on  the 
banks  and  coasts  with  the  permission  of  the  Korean  Customs. 

Article  VII.  In  case  of  infraction  of  the  present  agreement 
by  a Japanese  vessel,  the  Korean  Customs  may  cause  the 
license  of  such  vessel  to  be  confiscated,  or  may  refuse  to  issue 
a new  one,  if  the  offence  be  found  upon  examination,  to  be  of 
a grave  nature. 

Article  VIII.  When  a Japanese  vessel  or  the  crew  thereof, 
infringes  the  stipulations  of  the  present  agreement  or  of  other 
treaties,  or  when  a member  of  the  crew  commits  any  crime, 
the  Japanese  Consular  Offices  shall  deal  with  the  case  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  treaties  and  the  laws  of 
Japan. 

Article  IX.  The  present  agreement  shall  remain  in  force 
for  a period  of  fifteen  years  from  the  date  of  its  signature,  and 
after  the  expiration  of  each  period,  further  arrangements  may 
be  made  by  mutual  agreement. 

The  two  Governments  may,  however,  conclude  an  agree- 
ment by  mutual  consent,  even  before  the  expiration  of  the 
aforesaid  term,  when  in  future  the  navigation  of  Korea  shall 
be  further  developed. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  (Seal) 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary. 

The  13th  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the  83rd  year  of  Meiji. 

I.  Ha-yeng,  (Seal) 
Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

The  13th  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the  9th  year  of 
Kwang-mu. 


72 


Declaration  of  the  Japanese  Government. 

November  22,  1905. 

The  relations  of  propinquity  have  made  it  necessary  for 
Japan  to  take  and  exercise,  for  reasons  closely  connected  with 
her  own  safety  and  repose,  a paramount  interest  and  influence 
in  the  political  and  military  affairs  of  Korea.  The  measures 
hitherto  taken  have  been  purely  advisory,  but  the  experience 
of  recent  years  has  demonstrated  the  insufficiency  of  measures 
of  guidance  alone.  The  unwise  and  improvident  action  of 
Korea,  more  especially  in  the  domain  of  her  internationl  con- 
cerns, has  in  the  past  been  the  most  fruitful  source  of  compli- 
cations. To  permit  the  present  unsatisfactory  condition  of 
things  to  continue  unrestrained  and  unregulated  would  be  to 
invite  fresh  difficulties,  and  Japan  believes  that  she  owes  it  to 
herself  and  to  her  desire  for  the  general  pacification  of  the 
extreme  East  to  take  the  steps  necessary  to  put  an  end  once 
and  for  all  to  this  dangerous  situation.  Accordingly,  with  that 
object  in  view  and  in  order  at  the  same  time  to  safeguard  their 
own  position  and  to  promote  the  well-being  of  the  Government 
and  people  of  Korea,  the  Imperial  Government  have  resolved 
to  assume  a more  intimate  and  direct  influence  and  responsi- 
bility than  heretofore  in  the  external  relations  of  the  Peninsula. 
The  Government  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Korea  are  in 
accord  with  the  Imperial  Government  as  to  the  absolute 
necessity  of  the  measure,  and  the  two  governments,  in  order  to 
provide  for  the  peaceful  and  amicable  establishment  of  the  new 
order  of  things,  have  concluded  the  accompanying  compact.  In 
bringing  this  agreement  to  the  notice  of  the  Powers  having 
treaties  with  Korea,  the  Imperial  Government  declare  that  in 
assuming  charge  of  the  foreign  relations  of  Korea  and  under- 
taking the  duty  of  watching  over  the  execution  of  the  existing 
treaties  of  that  country,  they  will  see  that  those  treaties  are 
maintained  and  respected,  and  they  also  engage  not  to 
prejudice  in  any  way  the  legitimate  commercial  and  industrial 
interests  of  those  Powers  in  Korea. 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  KOREAN  INDEPENDENCE 
March  1,  1919 

We,  the  representatives  of  20,000,000  united  people  of 
Korea,  hereby  proclaim  the  independence  of  Korea  and  the 
liberty  of  the  Korean  people.  This  proclamation  stands  in  wit- 
ness to  the  equality  of  nations,  and  we  pass  it  on  to  our  pos- 
terity as  their  inalienable  right. 

With  4,000  years  of  history  behind  us,  we  take  this  step 
to  insure  to  our  children  forever  life,  liberty  and  pursuit  of 
happiness  in  accord  with  the  awakening  consciousness  of  this 
new  era.  This  is  the  clear  leading  of  God  and  the  right  of 
every  nation.  Our  desire  for  liberty  cannot  be  crushed  or 
destroyed. 


73 


After  an  independent  civilization  of  several  thousand  years 
we  have  experienced  the  agony  for  fourteen  years  of  foreign 
oppression,  which  has  denied  to  us  freedom  of  thought  and 
made  it  impossible  for  us  to  share  in  the  intelligent  advance  of 
the  age  in  which  we  live. 

To  assure  us  and  our  children  freedom  from  future 
oppression,  and  to  be  able  to  give  full  scope  to  our  national 
aspirations,  as  well  as  to  secure  blessing  and  happiness  for  all 
time,  we  regard  as  the  first  imperative  the  regaining  of  our 
national  independence. 

We  entertain  no  spirit  of  vengeance  towards  Japan,  but 
our  urgent  need  today  is  to  redeem  and  rebuild  our  ruined 
nation,  and  not  to  discuss  who  has  caused  Korea’s  downfall. 

Our  part  is  to  influence  the  Japanese  Government,  which 
is  now  dominated  by  the  old  idea  of  brute  force,  so  that  it  will 
change  and  act  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  justice  and 
truth. 

The  result  of  the  enforced  annexation  of  Korea  by  Japan 
is  that  every  possible  discrimination  in  education,  commerce 
and  other  spheres  of  life  has  been  practiced  against  us  most 
cruelly.  Unless  remedied,  the  continued  wrong  will  but 
intensify  the  resentment  of  the  20,000,000  Korean  people  and 
make  the  Far  East  a constant  menace  to  the  peace  of  the  world. 

We  are  conscious  that  Korea’s  independence  will  mean  not 
only  well  being  and  happiness  for  our  race,  but  also  happiness 
and  integrity  for  the  400,000,000  people  of  China  and  make 
Japan  the  leader  of  the  Orient  instead  of  the  conqueror  she  is 
at  the  present  time. 

A new  era  awakes  before  our  eyes,  for  the  old  world  of 
force  has  gone  and  out  of  the  travail  of  the  past  a new  world 
of  righteousness  and  truth  has  been  born. 

We  desire  a full  measure  of  satisfaction  in  liberty  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness.  In  this  hope  we  go  forward. 

We  pledge  the  following: 

1 . This  work  of  ours  is  in  behalf  of  truth, 
justice  and  life  and  is  undertaken  at  the  request 
of  our  people  to  make  known  their  desire  for 
liberty.  Let  there  be  no  violence. 

2.  Let  those  who  follow  us  show  every 
hour  with  gladness  this  same  spirit. 

3.  Let  all  things  be  done  with  singleness  of 
purpose  so  that  our  behavior  to  the  end  may 
be  honorable  and  upright. 

The  4252nd  year  of  the  Kingdom  of  Korea,  3rd  month, 
1st  day. 

This  document  was  signed  by  thirty-three  (33)  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people. 


74 


- 


( 


